Dark Lies & the Hidden Truth
by evoloesque
Summary: After her mother dies and she is sent to jail for three years, Anei comes back, stronger than ever. But, the King of the Kage is after her power. Why? The Spirit World knows that he has plenty of his own. What connection does he have to Anei?
1. Chapter 1::Death

"Anni, dear, would you please feed Boshes while I'm gone?" the woman rasped, holding her hand out to take the girl's in her own.  
The young girl's face was sparkling with tears as more and more spilled out from her eyes. She squeezed the woman's hand gently. "Mom...Boshes is gone, remember?" she said, her voice choking with so much crying. She took several, uneven breaths.  
"Oh yes...well, will you still watch over him, Allison?" she asked again. She did not realize her daughter was crying. She did not realize she was laying on her deathbed. All she knew was slowly draining from her mind. Everything she created, her family, her success, everything, was being forgotten.  
"Yes, mom. Anything for you," her daughter replied, shaking her head and lowering it, not wanting to reprimand the woman for getting her name wrong again. She grit her teeth in anger. The most important woman in Anei's life was slowly fading away.  
"Anei. Don't forget. I'll always love you..." the woman trailed off, her hand going limp in Anei's own, and her whole body turning cold.  
Anei buried her face in her arms as she sobbed into the maroon blankets on her mother's bed. Her mother, her best friend, the one woman who set all mother's apart...gone.  
"DAMN IT!" Anei cried, pounding her fist on the hard nightstand that was sitting next to her. She felt a comforting arm slide around her shoulders as she cried. The man crouched next to her, pulling her towards him, and holding her close as Anei wept into his chest, soaking his shirt.  
She suddenly abandoned crying into his chest, and glared at her mom. Her father watched her, pity etched into every wrinkle on his face. "I hate you! Why did you have to just die! I could've taken it, you hear me? I COULD'VE TAKEN IT, AND LIVED!!" she roared, tears clouding her vision. She stood, and sprinted out of the room, to her own.  
Anei ripped miscellaneous items of clothing from her closet, furiously stuffing them into her duffel bag she grabbed from the top shelf. She shoved all of her memorable items, pictures, a journal, and drawings. She ran into the kitchen, pushing bread, a few bottles of water, some canned soups, and silverware into the bag, yanking it shut, and running out of the house.  
"I could've taken him, and lived to see you again," she murmured, ignoring her father's pleas to come back.

* * *

Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma sat on the couch at their mansion that they shared with two others; Minamino Shuichi, otherwise known as Kurama, and Jaganshi Hiei.  
Yusuke sat with his girlfriend, Yukimura Keiko, held close as they were watching a horror film. Kazuma, known as Kuwabara to his friends, was hiding behind the couch, peeking every once and a while at the TV screen. He screamed when the movie suddenly stopped and a little tune played.  
'Breaking News' the screen read.  
Yusuke tilted his head back and said to Kuwabara, "Kuwabara, don't be so scared, it's just a news bulletin." Yusuke shook his head as the orange-haired idiot boy's eyes hesitantly hovered over the top of the couch.  
"We interrupt this program for breaking news. Good evening, I'm Otoda Kenji with a special report. We have just received news that the woman running for Board Of Education Director of Sarayashiki has died due to infection of a mysterious wound.  
"Mrs. Tanizawa Sayaka-,"  
"Tanizawa Sayaka?!? Yusuke, isn't that-?" Kuwabara started, but was hushed by Keiko.  
"was on a walk with her daughter, Tanizawa Anei, at the park when they were attacked by a so-called 'monster' and Mrs. Tanizawa was fatally wounded. Apparently she was slashed by claws, protecting her daughter from them. Doctors say that somehow the claws had poisoned her, and she was on medication for about half a month. The poison had disappeared, leaving an infection in the wound, which mysteriously kept the wound fresh.  
"She battled through the infection with all of her strength, and finally lost bravely, not giving into the pain until her death. She-," The news anchor was interrupted by a technician placing a piece of paper on his desk. The technician waved goofily, and scampered off the screen as the anchor picked the paper up.  
"This just in - Ms. Tanizawa Anei has run away from home. She's been missing for almost an hour and the police have no leads on the case."  
A picture of a girl showed on the screen and Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara gasped in unison as they recognized the girl.  
"If you see or have any information about this girl, please contact our station's hotline. Her father is very worried. We here at the station believe that it is a horrible event to lose a wife and child in the same day."  
"Yusuke! Isn't that your cousin?" Keiko asked fervently.  
The boy just stared with widened eyes in shock at the picture still remaining on the screen. "Anei..." he whispered.

* * *

"Blinded by rage, that's what you are. In a hole, you're too deep, too far. No one's here to pull you out, you've got nobody there for you now. It's eating me up inside. Tearing me to pieces. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again.  
"I'm too late, it's over, you said we'd be together, always. You said you'd come back, and be there, but it's wrong to think that and I'm falling away. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again.  
"Oh, oh, oh. I was so close to you, as you were to me. We were one and two, two birds of a feather. I lay my head down to cry to sleep at night. All I can hear in the wind is your sigh. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again.  
"You're memory, it hovers, just above my head. My face it is shattered, in that damn mirror. I'm slowly dreading each day, and dying seems suddenly so right. It's my life that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for breaking me again. For breaking me again. Breaking me aaagain..." The voice died away and started to sob.  
A short boy with gravity-defying black hair, a small, white starburst in the middle, and cold, crimson eyes was creeping around the junk; hearing the voice had startled him and he wandered over to the sound.  
Jaganshi Hiei peered over the top of the pick-up truck and saw the most surprising thing. He wasn't expecting to finding himself face-to-face with a girl. And he certainly wasn't expecting that girl to pull back and punch him square on the nose. He tumbled backwards and landed in a heap, sporting a bloody nose.  
He looked back and saw the girl was climbing over the truck, a duffel bag in her hand. The young girl was probably thirteen or so, she had a small purple vest on and a tight black long-sleeved shirt, showing her stomach, with black finger gloves. She sported a purple denim mini-skirt and black high socks that reached her knees. Her raven-colored hair was down and blowing in the sudden breeze. Her face was tear-stained. She stared at him a second with deep, hurt, violet eyes, and she ran into the depths of the junkyard. Hiei got to his feet, and stopped the bleeding the best he could, following after the girl. She was going to pay for her unprovoked attack.  
After a few minutes of running, Hiei rounded a corner and saw another surprising scene. A tall, wolf demon with evil red eyes leered down at her.  
"You think you can escape to the Ningenkai with your parents?" he asked her. He took a step forward, she took two back.  
"Yeah, I think I can!" she quipped, glaring at the young wolf demon in front of her. The rudeness of the girl reminded him of someone...  
"You cannot just leave our clan and run away without telling why!"  
"Too late, I already did!"  
The demon grabbed her from around the back, and held her chin firmly in his hand. His hard eyes softened and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.  
"You're cute when you're angry," he said, licking his lips.  
"You know who I'm destined to be with, Urufu," she threatened.  
"Well then, I'll just have to kill him, won't I? Besides, you don't love him anymore you do me. You were forced to. Doesn't mean you can't elope." He smirked at her deepening scowl. "He says he misses you dearly. Having gone with only about a month without seeing you, he says it's torture. I told him I was going to find you, and bring you back. Hm...maybe I should take you for myself...have you lose the thing females of our kind hold dear?" he explained, and suddenly kissed her. His hands combed through her hair as she stood in complete shock. Her own hands were trapped between each other's chests, and he put his arm around her back, pressing her even closer. His free hand caressed her cheek, her neck, her collar bone, and finally-  
The girl wrenched away from the man now dubbed 'Urufu'. "You disgust me. I should kill you."  
"Go ahead, love." His smirk broadened, than fell, realizing what she was going to do. "You wouldn't _dare_." She abruptly started to glow eerily silver that covered her for a few seconds.  
She emerged from the light, in a white jacket that had a sleeve on the left side, but not the other. A black, turtle neck tank top that showed her stomach was under the jacket, and a large, silver ring was at the collar, held on by a purple button. She had on black tights with purple boots that stopped at the middle of her calves. A purple belt was the top of her white skirt/tunic. A large sword was sheathed and slung across her back, with a small dragon head and a purple orb atop the handle. Her hair had changed too; it grew very short, it turned a pure white, and purple on the ends of the bangs.  
The girl smirked as she pressed the heels of her hands together; a small, black orb of power formed in the middle. "BIKOU SHIKYO!" she cried, and the black orb extended out to the boy. He screamed in pain as he was obliterated in a black and silver light. 


	2. Chapter 2::Surprise

Hiei watched as the girl turned back to her original form and collapsed, he walked out to her, amazed by what he just saw. He heard a popping noise and footsteps behind him. He turned on his heel and saw Koenma and two of his ogres shuffling towards him. The ogres shuffled over to the girl, pushed Hiei out of the way, and grabbed her by her arms. Her head lolled back and forth as they dragged her to Koenma, who was just a hologram floating in mid-air.  
"Nice work, Hiei. I'm glad you knocked her out before she escaped," Koenma said.  
"Hn. I-," the fire youkai started.  
Koenma interrupted by 'tsk-tsk'ing him. "Now, either you take my praise, or you leave it." The Prince of the Makai waved his hand and a dark portal appeared. "Go to my office, and wait. I have to tell the others about this. Murderers will not go unnoticed in the Ningenkai while daddy's away." With that, he left with another popping noise,and the ogres, the girl, and he was gone. Hiei grunted and rolled his eyes, jumping into the portal.

* * *

Yusuke dialed the number furiously for about the eighteenth time. It rang five times...six, and he heard a clicking sound.  
"Breaking News Information Hotline, how can I help you?" a woman's voice asked. She sounded like she was talking through her nose.  
"Yeah, my cousin, Tanizawa Anei has gone missing, and I demand that-,"  
Yusuke was interrupted by a male's voice, "You say you know Tanizawa Anei personally?" he asked curiously.  
"Yes, she's my cousin, but-." Keiko watched as Yusuke got angrier and angrier. She and Kuwabara cowered on the couch.  
"She's your cousin you say? How about I put you to the test? What is her mother's sister named?" the male's voice questioned.  
"Urameshi Atsuko. I'm Urameshi Yusuke, now will you please let me speak?!?" the Spirit Detective asked furiously. There was silence on the other end of the line.  
"Ur...Urameshi Yu-ya-Yusuke?" the man stuttered.  
"YES, WILL YOU PLEASE-?" But no one was there. The phone line went dead. Yusuke laid the blaring phone back into the cradle, and the beeping stopped. He stood staring at the phone, head hung, and hands pressed firmly onto the side table where the phone rested. The TV cast a blue-ish glow around the room as the news anchor came back on once the movie was finished.  
"Good evening, I'm Otoda Kenji. Tonight we mourn over a tragic, but heroic death. Mrs. Tanizawa Sayaka has recently died due to an infection of a wound. It is-,"  
"Turn it off," Yusuke said quietly.  
"But, Yusuke, it might-," Keiko started hesitantly.  
"Turn it off!" he roared. The girl scrambled off the couch and pressed the 'off' button. She stood holding one hand in the other by her chest, staring worriedly at Yusuke. She had known Anei like she'd been a sister to her, well as much as a ten year old could say. She remembered the day Anei left-she had cried her eyes out because her best friend had left. It had been three years since Keiko had last seen Anei, and was surprised she had not heard that she was back in town.  
Kuwabara stared grimly at the floor. He barely knew Anei, but had met her back when he was a little boy. She was a great girl, a hot one too, judging by how she had grown up from the news photo, but losing her mother...he felt really bad for her.  
They all heard a pop as a light came on in the living room, and a holographic Prince of the Makai floated in the center of it. They heard footsteps and the first three people that were occupying the living room looked towards the stairway to see Kurama coming down them. Two ogres appeared a second later on either side of Koenma and they held a form by its arms, also holographic. Its long, dark hair obscured its face, and Yusuke didn't give it a second thought. Yusuke whirled around, and his brown eyes narrowed.  
"Look, Binky-Breath, this isn't a good time-,"  
Koenma held his hand up, and Yusuke stopped talking abruptly, although started to grit his teeth in frustration. With all the interruptions he had, he was getting pretty pissed off. "Get into the portal," the toddler-shaped ruler said simply, sensing the tension in the room. He waved his hand again and a dark blue portal appeared beside Yusuke, who angrily jumped in first.  
Kurama hesitated. "Is Hiei-? The Prince nodded as he and his ogres holding the figure popped and disappeared. The red-head stepped through the portal as Keiko and Kuwabara followed.

* * *

Kurama, Keiko, Yusuke, and Kuwabara all stepped out of the portal. Keiko, Yusuke, and Kuwabara walked over to Koenma's desk which he appeared at. Kurama stood against the wall by Hiei.  
"Out," Koenma ordered and all of the working ogres but two - the ones Koenma had traveled with - ran out of the office. The servants stood by Koenma's desk and shifted the figure in their arms. Yusuke noticed this and gasped as he caught a glimpse at the face.  
He ran over to Koenma's grunts, got to his knees, and tilted the girl's head up.  
"Anei!" he breathed, his eyes widening. The ogres let go of her and Yusuke laid her across his legs, her head propped up on his hand.  
"How long has it been, Yusuke?" Koenma questioned, raising an eyebrow. After all, she had just murdered someone, and after she had turned ten, the Tanizawa's practically fell off the face of the earth-and the other worlds as well. _I need Botan..._he thought exasperated. A second later, the doors burst open to reveal a cheerful girl with pink eyes and blue hair tied up into a ponytail. She wore a pink kimono with a red obi.  
"You called Master Koenma?" she asked, bounding up to the front desk.  
"Who did Ms. Tanizawa murder?" Koenma asked immediately. Everyone - including Hiei - looked up suddenly, towards Botan. Yusuke couldn't believe his ears. Who did Ms. Tanizawa _murder?_


	3. Chapter 3::Imprisonment

Botan pulled out her grade book and looked numbly through the pages. "A wolf demon by the name of Urufu, part of the Ookami clan. Ms. Tanizawa Anei and her parents once belonged to that clan." She closed her book with a snap, and put it away, glancing sadly at the girl Yusuke held in his arms.  
"NO WAY!" Yusuke suddenly shouted. He shook with anger. "NO WAY IN HELL MY COUSIN WOULD KILL SOMEONE!!!" He stood, picking Anei up with his arms underneath her knees and her shoulders. She stirred at his shouting.  
_So that's who she reminded me of. The rudeness seems to carry over to her..._Hiei thought, watching the argument.  
"WELL, SHE DID!! HIEI SAW IT!!!" Koenma yelled, standing on top of his desk and pointing at the fire youkai who looked surprised that Koenma would bring him into this.  
Koenma's grunts, sensing the fight might get violent, seized the unconscious Anei from Yusuke's hands. Keiko laid a hand on Yusuke's shoulder as he bowed his head and a few tears started leaking out of his brown eyes in frustration. He whipped his head back up again and glared at Koenma. "She didn't murder anyone! Anei could never be capable of that! Her mother just died! You can't take her from her father after that!!"  
"She murdered Urufu! You cannot deny what you did not see, Yusuke! I do not care whether her mother died, her father will have to suffer a few more years!!" Koenma screamed. He was trembling with rage. How _dare_ Yusuke argue about what he knows nothing of? "She is going to prison, whether you like it or not!!"  
"You never said-," Botan started abruptly, but Koenma cut her off.  
"She is going to jail, she did murder, and there is nothing you can do to change it!" Koenma shouted. "Now please go back to the mansion, before I decide to contact my father about this!"  
He waved his hand again and a dark blue portal appeared. Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Keiko all jumped through the portal, leaving Yusuke who was reluctantly giving Anei back to the ogres.  
Before jumping in, Yusuke turned his head around and glared at Koenma. "I _won't_ forget this, Koenma...

* * *

A sandy-brown haired boy with light green eyes, brown ears and tail to match, sat by the fire, thinking. He had just learned Urufu was killed by Anei, after tracking her down and confronting her. Urufu deserved what he got. As soon as Anei left, he ventured to the Ningenkai, stalking her. He, Shidousha, was betrothed to Anei. It was unacceptable for Urufu to continue to lust after her when she was declared his betrothed. It was a rumor that Urufu actually was kicked out instead of just leaving on his own accord.  
He was in his den, at his desk and staring at the letter in his hand. It seemed so useless to him now, writing to her after he found out what had happened. She almost seemed lost to him. But he would remain there, waiting for the day when she would be freed from prison, for the day she would come back to him. The ring on her finger would show her that he was still hers, until the day he took his off. However, that would never happen, because he truly did love Anei with every fiber of his being.  
Earlier in the day, an ogre had sent a message to him while he was writing to see if Anei was okay.  
"Ms. Anei was found by Urufu, Shidousha. We don't know why - or how - she killed him, but he was no where to be seen when Hiei of the Evil Eye got to her. She will spend 3 years in prison to pay for her crime.  
"Master Koenma wishes you good day and apologizes for the murder and the imprisonment."  
_Yeah...apologizes for the murder that I was going to do in a few days time...and the imprisonment I should've gotten...Anei...I should've gone after you first...to save you...

* * *

_Driving home from the funeral with tear stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes, Daifu sighed wearily. Shidiousha had probably heard of Urufu's death and Anei's imprisonment. He just couldn't understand why Anei thought she had to run away. At first, he blamed her emotions, but he already figured that, and there was something that disturbed him. That something happened about three years ago, here in the Human World. The possibility of him calling her again had crossed his mind the day of Sayaka's visitation and had chilled him to the bone. He shook his head; he didn't need to think about that right now.  
He had saw Atsuko at the funeral as well. Even though she had given him condolences and wept about her sister, he couldn't imagine losing her son only weeks before, it must have been terrible. He was surprised she wasn't dead herself yet, but then he remembered how many drinks Atsuko could throw back. For the first time in many days, Daifu's smiling muscles twitched and moved into a small smirk. No, she would be most likely drinking herself into a stupor by now.  
Parking the car in the driveway, he climbed out and went inside his house for the last time for a long time. He looked around at everything, touched the photos, the picutres Anei had drawn over the years. He ran his hands over Sayaka's clothing hanging neatly in her closet, Anei's clothes thrown around the room and piled up in boxes. Half of the stuff didn't even fit her in the first place; they were all from when she was 5 to 10 years old. In fact, Anei and Sayaka were going out to buy brand new clothes for Anei to start off in the day they were attacked. He shook his head again; he didn't need to remember the bad times-only the good.  
The house they had already paid off, thanks to a generous loan of human money from Koenma, which he still held over their heads at times when he needed something from them. He sat down on the queen sized bed he used to share with Sayaka. The maroon sheets still smelled of her. He held it in his hands and reveled over how soft the fabric was, breathed in deeply her scent that he would never smell again. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and he furiously wiped them away.  
A popping noise in front of him distracted him. He looked up and saw Koenma. Feelings of hostility and anger bubbled inside his chest and his face hardened. The prince was lucky he showed his face in only a hologram-he was almost smart in doing so.  
"Daifu," Koenma said, nodding slightly.  
"Koenma," Daifu relied, nodding stiffly and curtly.  
"You do understand I must do my duty or my father will instead." Daifu nodded again, his head bowing to his chest and he gazed at the sheets in his hand.  
"I understand."  
"Then you also understand that three years is acutally a very modest punishment. If it was up to my father to decide what to do, she would have suffered greatly and I doubt you would have ever seen her again."  
"I understand." Daifu looked up to the prince. "Make me a portal to the Ookami territory. The kitchen. At dawn tomorrow."  
"I expected as much. Give Shidousha my regards."  
With another nod and a pop, Koenma was gone. Daifu got up, letting the sheets fall from his hands. With one last look, he started to pack up some of his clothes, ones he had brought from the Demon World, and got ready to depart.  
At dawn, a dark blue portal yawned open in front of him. He set the letter for Anei-just in case she came back here after she was freed-on the counter and stepped in, away from his Human World life for another long time. 


	4. Chapter 4::Finally Free

Three Years Later

A young girl sat in the corner of the cell, holding her arms tightly across her stomach, and her knees bent as she slept. A loud sort of cackle interrupted her dreamless sleep as she snapped opened one of her forlorn eyes and saw a tiny demon the size of a small squirrel sneaking a peek up her worn mini-skirt.  
"Do you mind, Jyaki?" she growled. Jyaki looked up to her, bared his teeth, and scurried back to the darkness of his side of the cell. She had been placed with him after her fifteenth escape. Their cell had magic cast on it to prevent using shadow magic - magic which both of them had.  
Unfortunately, having been inside a human girl to carry out his plans, he had grown to be a pervert after seeing her...um...womanly parts.  
The girl closed her eye again and kept a sharp ear for Jyaki's footsteps. Instead of Jyaki's 'pitter-patter' she heard shuffling coming closer and closer.  
_Ah...dinner time. Lucky those damn ogres don't have to eat their own shitty cooking._ She opened her eye slightly as the ogre walked menacingly through the wall which separated herself and Jyaki from the hallways of the dungeons.  
The shadow demons had noticed that this ogre didn't have any food, and Jyaki, who scrambled out of his hiding place eagerly anticipating for some, sulked back to it. The ogre was about four heads taller than the girl and was about three times as wide. Her eyes opened to their fullest extent as their visitor shuffled towards the girl, grabbed one of her arms with one of his sage ones and forced her up.  
"Hey! Do you mind?!?" she spat, glaring at him as he roughly pulled her through the wall. Everything Koenma's ogres touched would be forced through the wall with them. The girl felt like her eyes were closed for a second, and then she began blinking rapidly, trying to get her eyes used to this brightness. She was abruptly out of the prison that she was so unjustly put in.  
For three years, she had been in a dark, dank prison cell and this sudden brightness didn't help her at all. He then brought her to a staircase, literally dragging her up it. The hallway they entered so suddenly was so bright, the girl had to close her eyes while the ogre continued dragging her to - unbeknownst to her - their destination.  
She heard a door slam open and heard a bunch of other shuffling footsteps running around as she cracked her violet eyes open, seeing ogres scurry around like the bunch of oafs they were. Always serving to Koenma, bowing down to him, enforcing his every whim.  
Anei's definition of Koenma, Prince of the Makai:

_A cold, heartless 703 year old bastard who did not care that her mother had just died when she was thrown into prison and did not care that if she didn't kill Urufu, he was going to force her to..._

She shuddered at the idea. Anei's eyes opened even more, used to the blinding light called sunlight. There was nothing down in the dungeons but a small light in the high ceiling. The ogre stopped, grabbed her by both of her shoulders and spun her around to face the cold, heartless 703-year old...ah forget it. The ogre spun her around to face the baby-ish ruler of the Makai. The ogre held both of her arms twisted behind her back, sending pain shooting up her limbs, but she ignored it. That was not even a fraction of what she'd been through before.  
He nodded curtly. "Anei," he said tartly.  
"Koenma," she growled.  
"Still bitter, are we?" he asked, a smirk on his face.  
"No, Koenma. I'm just as happy as can be," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.  
The toddler-shaped prince chuckled a bit. He stared intently at her, wondering if she would say anything else.  
"Has it really been three years?" she asked, confirming Koenma's assumptions. She never really looked at him when she talked. Instead, her eyes hungrily looked at his office-he figured it was a relief to see something other than a small little demon with horns and a dark cell. Proof of a civilization above ground, perhaps.  
Koenma nodded once again, and said, "Yes, Anei. It's been exactly three years since you were put into prison."  
"More like thrown in..." she mumbled under her breath, so that only she could hear. Unexpectedly the ogre, he apparently heard her, kneed her in the back.  
"Now, now. I'm sure she's been through much and we shouldn't give her a hard time while we're waiting for them," Koenma said, glaring at the ogre for a second. He looked down and continued stamping papers as if Anei and the ogre weren't standing there.  
"Waiting for whom, may I ask?" Anei asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"You'll see," Koenma replied, still stamping papers. He suddenly looked up at the ogre, and he must've nodded, because a second later, Anei was release and the ogre seemed to have disappeared. She wrung her wrists and once again surveyed his office-it hadn't changed much. She didn't think it changed at all, other than maybe more slacking ogres than were necessary. Her eyes traveled back over to the prince sitting in his throne-like chair.  
_Koenma's a fool. Having his ogre leave him like that. He knows I might kill him, but, what good will that do? I'll be thrown in prison again, and I certainly, don't want to go back and see Jyaki. Humph. I bet he's happy that he's all alone in that big, dark, dirty cell. Damn, Koenma. He knew this was going to happen._ She shifted all of her weight onto her right foot and crossed her arms in a bored fashion. Looking around again, she hopped up onto the toddler's desk. Koenma, pretending to be oblivious, ignored her and continued stamping papers. She crossed her arms again and one leg over the other, and stared at her foot, which she started to jiggle to a beat of a song she only knew.  
_Blinded by rage, that's what you are. In a hole, you're too deep, too far. No one's here to pull you out, you've got nobody there for you now. It's eating me up inside. Tearing me to pieces. It's my life, that's screwed up, you just had to come up, with this stupid plan, for break-  
_Anei's song was interrupted by the door slamming open once more. Koenma's and her head shot up, looking at the newcomers. Koenma, knowing who they were, looked back down and continued stamping papers.  
Anei, however, had no clue whom these people were, and being across the hall, she only stared at them while they came closer and closer. There were four of them, all shooting glances at her, sitting on top of the desk belonging to someone so highly respected. She blew a piece of hair that fell over her eye, and peered intently at one of them. He seemed so familiar, but five years of not seeing he had changed her vision of him...  
Her eyes widened as she saw a boy whom she would least expect to be here, in the Spirit World.

* * *

Urameshi Yusuke said nothing to anybody as he and his friends made their way to Koenma's office in the Makai. This was the number one day that he didn't want to remember. _Koenma...why did __you have to do that?_ He thought angrily for the millionth time.  
Kuwabara Kazuma and Yukimura Keiko, understanding how he felt, for they had known her too, didn't say a word unless spoken too, which was only when Botan had greeted them.  
Feeling the tension, Botan wasn't as cheery as her usual self, remembering the shouting match Yusuke and Koenma had gotten into this day three years ago. She frowned... _three years ago...? Then that means...!_ She looked eagerly at the girl sitting on Koenma's desk; she was looking bored, yet intrigued. She didn't think she recognized any in the group, from what Keiko had told her, it had been many years since they last saw each other.  
Kuwabara opened the large doors to Koenma's office. Yusuke stared moodily at his feet as the four walked up to the desk. Surprisingly, all the ogres had left already, and there wasn't a single one in the room.  
He felt eyes on him as he continued staring at his feet. He assumed it was Koenma. But he was very wrong. The three people around him stopped. So did he. Keiko suddenly nudged him hard in the ribs, and pointed to something in the direction of Koenma's desk.  
Yusuke didn't see her pointing and said, "Ow, Keiko, did you have to-,"  
He was interrupted by someone clearing their throat - rather loudly. He turned his head to glare at Koenma, but instead, he saw the girl that was imprisoned three years ago on this day. A grin broke out on his face and he realized exactly _why_ Koenma had brought them here; to retrieve her, for her sentence was over. How quickly he had lost track of time.  
They stared at each other, not believing their own eyes. Both had changed in their eyes, both had grown up so much, become almost unrecognizable.  
Anei stepped down from the desk, her brain still not registering the fact that Yusuke was standing there-not registering the fact that he was in Spirit World, of all the places she would see him. He suddenly pushed pass the semi-unfamiliar face of Kuwabara and he walked to her, hugging her tightly.  
_Yusuke...is here...Yusuke..._she thought. She hugged him back, burying her face in the dip of his neck. "Yusuke..." she sobbed, tears spilling out of her purple eyes. It was so nice to see someone she _knew_, someone she cared about. For three almost unbearable years, she had been thrown into cells with unfamiliar faces and people and personalities-one of which almost got her killed.  
He felt Anei's tears run down his neck and her hot breath gave him goosebumps, but he enjoyed their tearful, yet happy, reunion. His mother would be extremely happy to hear the news.  
Botan and Keiko smiled, overjoyed for Anei's freedom. Tears streamed down their faces as they silently cried, and they looked at each other and smiled. Kuwabara's face softened and broke out into a smile; he was just as happy as Yusuke to see Anei. He was probably the one who hadn't seen her the longest, as he was only seven when he met her, but after that, they never spoke again.  
Yusuke pulled away from Anei, eyes wet with tears, putting his hands on her shoulders. His eyes swept over her body. She very slim, she looked weak, she was almost as white as paper, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Yusuke noticed some scars and bruises adorned her stomach, and her thighs, but he didn't worry about them now. He would ask about them eventually.  
"You look so different," he said, his voice cracking.  
Anei laughed a bit-how wonderful it felt to do that. "You try going to prison for three years and eating nothing but shitty cooking. Oh, and living with a perverted demon named Jyaki for three months."  
About to comment on Anei's vulgar language-the jailtime must have toughened her up some, especially since one of the last times he saw her, she was crying because she had fallen down and barely got a scratch-he realized the name sounded familiar to Yusuke. He turned to Koenma suddenly and said, "You put her in with Jyaki?!?"  
Koenma nodded and smiled. "I thought Jyaki would tell her about you, how you became a Spirit Detective."  
"Yusuke? A Spirit Detective? My, my...is that what my darling cousin is doing in the Spirit World?" Anei commented, raising an eyebrow at him. Yusuke turned back around and smiled while nodding proudly. He noted she was much more sarcastic and cynical; she noted he was much more arrogant and flamboyant.  
Anei walked a circle around him several times jokingly, nodding and murmuring approvals. He was well muscled, taller, broader, tanner. He still had that 'tough guy' exterior, but Anei knew better. She stopped her rounds, staring at something just behind his right shoulder. For a split second, she seemed lost in thought as to who it was, but recollection dawned over her face.  
"KEIKO!!!" she squealed, rushing pass Yusuke to give her old friend a bear hug.  
"Anei! I've missed you so much!" Keiko exclaimed, returning the hug just as hard and giggling with her.  
"So have I!" Anei and Keiko pulled away and Anei noticed the girl next to Keiko.  
Before she could even start, the girl erupted into an explanation, seizing Anei's hand. "I am Botan, Guide to the River Styx! Nice to meet'cha!" The girl shook Anei's hand vigorously.  
"Err...hi, Botan," she said, putting a hand behind her head while Botan continued shaking her hand. Botan let go, beaming.  
Someone tapped her on the back and Anei turned away from the two girls. She came face-to-chest with Kuwabara, although as she looked up at him, she raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"  
Kuwabara looked exasperated and fell to his knees while Botan, Keiko, and Yusuke laughed loudly. "You..." he sniffed. "You really don't remember me, Anei?"  
She looked around at the others laughing. "Uh...no...should I?"  
"Yes!" he cried, pulling out a hanky and blowing his nose loudly. The other three were almost in tears. "I helped you get out of that really tall tree when you were only a kid!"  
Anei blinked, "Wait...so you're that...Ku...kid?"  
Kuwabara nodded happily and jumped up. "Yes! She remembers the first part of my name!"  
Sighing, annoyed, Anei raised her fist and slammed it against the side of his head. "Idiot..."  
Yusuke fell to the ground he was laughing so hard.  
"Alright, alright, cut the chatter stuff! Get out of my office so my ogres can get back to work!" Koenma complained, getting sick of all the crying and laughing. Anei could see him frantically wiping tears away and she smirked. He'd been crying too.  
He waved his hand like previous times, and they all stepped in, one-by-one. Anei, being the last one through, looked at Koenma before going, and nodded once again before disappearing into the portal.

* * *

Surprisingly, the portal had dropped Anei and the others in her old house. Anei smiled, despite the tainted memories she had to suffer here.  
"DA-AD!" she called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to increase the sound. "MR. TANIZAWA, YOUR DAUGHTER IS HERE!!" Her smile disappeared as she continued walking downstairs, the gang waiting in the living room. Yusuke followed as they heard her bound up the stairs, taking two at a time. "Yusuke, I can't find him anywhere!" she cried, running out of her parents' old room.  
Her eyes traveled over to the stairway when an unfamiliar red-head was walking up them. "Kurama!" Yusuke cried.  
He nodded to Yusuke. "Anei, I think this is where your father went," he said, handing her a paper in his hand. She took it.  
Anei stared at him, a why-haven't-I-ever-seen-this-boy-and-why-is-he-in-my-house look on her face.  
"Oh! Anei, um, meet Shuichi Minamino, but you can call him Kurama," Yusuke said, reading the look on his cousin's face.  
She smiled wistfully, no doubt trying to decide whether she would like this boy or not. She bowed, and he followed her actions, smiling warmly, and chuckling a bit. "Nice to meet you, Anei."  
"Likewise." Her eyes turned to the paper as they ended their bowing, her face going instantly to a frown. She noticed it was yellowed at the edges, like it had been sitting somewhere for a long time.

_Dear Anei,_

_If you ever want to find me, I'll be in Demon World, with the Ookami Clan. Contact Shidousha before you come. There have been some strange things going on concerning you and the Kage._

_More later,  
__Daifu_

"What're the 'Kage'?" Yusuke asked, reading the note over her shoulder, though Anei waved her hand, telling him to not worry about it.  
"Where'd you find this Kurama?" she asked as they headed back downstairs.  
Behind her, Kurama replied, "Hiei found it on the kitchen counter."  
"When did you two get here anyways?" Yusuke asked.  
"Only a few minutes before you four."  
"Who's Hiei?" Anei asked Kurama, turning into the living room.  
Turning around at the mention of his name, Hiei faced Kurama, Yusuke, and Anei. Anei glanced at him, and then did a double-take. She stopped and Kurama stopped, looking at her oddly. Anei was trembling and staring at Hiei in shock, her mouth gaping open in a silent gasp.  
"You...you're the...the boy I-I punched...i-in the junk-junk yard..."


	5. Chapter 5::Talking With Two Voices

"Anei, what're you talking about?" Yusuke asked, hearing her voice and turning around.  
"When I ran away, he was at the junkyard sneaking up on me and I punched him, and then I ran into Urufu and-,"  
"And you killed him," Hiei replied, remembering the powerful attack she used. 'Bikou Shikyo', or 'Shadow's Death', he recalled.  
"Hiei! Why didn't you tell us!?" Yusuke roared. Shaking his head, he corrected himself. "Er...why didn't you tell us exactly what happened?"  
"You never asked," Hiei quipped.  
"Enough chatter." Everyone turned to Anei. She looked absolutely furious, the essence of anger. Her fists were clenched, she was trembling, and her head was bowed, so her hair covered her-no doubt-livid face. Anei was so angry, and if looks could kill, Hiei would be dead.  
_Damn, she looks deadly when she's angry..._Kuwabara thought, pretty scared, and backing away a few steps.  
"You knew all along why I killed him and yet you _still_ let Koenma put me in jail?" she said. "You could've prevented suffering on everyone's parts, including my own!" Her voice didn't crack but it was full with anger.  
"Anei...Hiei, isn't like that..." Yusuke started, trying to calm her down.  
"I never knew what he meant by saying it. You expect me to testify when I do not know the meaning of his words?" He had a feeling he shouldn't of, but he got her even angrier by the look on her face. Her jaw tightened, and she narrowed her eyes even further.  
A black aura encased her body, and everyone noticed this, but not Anei. She was oblivious to everyone besides Hiei, as he was to her. Her hair started floating up, and turning white, purple at the ends of the bangs. "You LIAR!!!" she screamed. Her clothes started changing.  
Hiei witnessed her transformation for the second time, and was pretty impressed. The last time she transformed, her aura was pretty weak. Now, her strength had almost tripled.  
The room was swallowed in darkness and everyone else watched the scene unfolding in front of them. Yusuke put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm Anei down, but found he couldn't move or speak. Anei raised a hand and shoved him away; he remained in his same position but farther away from Anei. _Not good_,he thought.  
"Get out of this, Yusuke," she hissed. Anei glared at the fire youkai in front of her. How could he possibly not know what Urufu meant? It was incredibly obvious. Especially since his actions completely emphasized the fact! Black swirls of anger wrapped themselves around Hiei's wrists and started winding around his legs and torso. He tugged at them, trying to get free, but they only tightened. He glanced at Anei whom had a dark violet light pulsating around her.  
"Too focused on me, Hiei?" she asked in a strange voice...it was almost manly, but still hers. As if someone was speaking with her voice and their own. "You should pay attention more in a fight, you shouldn't let your guard down." She chuckled, using that same voice. She didn't mean to say it, but something was growing inside of her. Something that didn't feel right, she almost felt as if she lost consciousness and was watching the scene from somewhere in the back of her head. She recalled the first and last time she felt this was when she killed Urufu, this day three years ago.  
She tried ignoring the immense feeling and stared at her arms, both of which were bent tightly and held in front of her stomach. Something was different about them. Anei wanted to push her sleeves back, and surprisingly, her body responded as though she had gained control over it again. Black markings were glowing on her skin in a strange language.  
A hand placed itself on her shoulder. Her body was suddenly no longer tense, and she turned her head towards the person that stopped her. The boy named Kurama. She suddenly fell into her mind once again, staring from the back of her head, and turned away from Kurama. His hand still remained there.  
"You will never destroy me," Anei announced, still in that double voice. "My anger will never be quelled. Go ahead and try to stop me, it's the most you can do to save me."  
In the back of her head, she thought, o_h man...this feeling...it's like I'm...possessed or something..._ Anei felt sudden power pulse throughout her body. This power clashed with her own, causing a cry to escape her lips. She regained control of her body in a moment that was terrible. Pain reached an excruciating extent and she collapsed to her knees. Holding her head in her hands, she clenched her teeth very tightly. It hurt to breath; it hurt to move; everything she did white hot pain seared through her. Everyone around her had suddenly vanished, replaced by a black void. She felt someone try to enter her mind, but they were zapped out by the unknown power. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry.  
_What is going on...?

* * *

_

Two men stood on top of a roof next to a house glowing with energy. The older one had his slanted lavender eyes closed, sensing the energy inside the tall building, his long, white hair billowing in the wind. The younger one stood impatiently, blowing his short black hair out of his red eyes. The older brother opened his eyes.  
"It's her. There's no way it can't be. I can sense his energy inside of her, growing deeper as we speak."  
"Yeah. I can sense it, too. It's kinda weird though. I can also barely sense the wolf inside her as well. Gives me a furry feeling…it's not cool." The young one looked at his brother and shuddered, sticking his tongue out.  
"Can you feel how strong she's grown?"  
"Yes. It's almost stronger than he was. I wonder how she got it inside of her."  
"An object, perhaps. That's why we're here, to look inside once her cousin and company are gone."  
"And this time, you aren't having all the glory. I'm killing him, whether you like it or not. You got to kill Sayaka, and I want this guy, understand?"  
"Of course. I would never like to steal all of the glory from my little brother. Just a little bit of it."  
"Hey!"  
His brother did not smile at the retort, only crossed his arms. His brother sighed.  
"I have a question."  
"Yes?"  
"Do you think she'll still like me?"  
There was a silent pause from his brother.  
"Well?"  
He continued ignoring him.  
"Hello!?! Is anyone in there?!?" He rapped on his brother's head. "I'd like you to answer my question now!"  
"Let's go inside. Fuzen wants his daughter right away. The faster we get it, the faster we can get her to him. And he doesn't want to wait, you know that, Totei." He had on a long white trench coat with a loose belt around his waist, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. A black turtle-neck tank top was under the coat, along with tan pants and two black belts buckled around them. His pants were tucked into his black high lace-up boots and his hair was in a very loose ponytail.  
A loud sigh escaped his lips. "Alright, alright, Teishi, but let's make this quick. I want to get this, before Fuzen does anything with her," the younger one replied. His black trench coat whipped around his bare chest. His whole attire was black, except white gloves, and his black pants were also tucked into black high lace-up boots. They both each had a sword at their hip.  
The older one rolled his eyes while he and his brother jumped to the roof. The energy was stronger, and they both closed their eyes and disappeared.

* * *

Inside, Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Botan all stared at her (Anei) with wide eyes. She was on her knees, trembling.  
"Yusuke, what's wrong with her?" Keiko questioned, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. Yusuke wiped it away.  
His mind was racing, trying to find a solution to make the pain go away for Anei. He could tell she was hurting, but from what, he didn't know. He suddenly came up with an idea that deserved a lit up light-bulb over his head.  
Yusuke brought his gaze up to Kurama, who was staring at Anei intently, no doubt curious to what was making Anei the way she was. Knowing Hiei didn't want to talk to Anei at all at the moment, Kurama was his best bet.  
"Kurama! Try to talk to Anei telepathically!" Yusuke cried.  
Kurama stared at him for a second, then, with a determined glint in his eye, he nodded. The kitsune removed his hand from Anei's shoulder, and stared at her.  
Suddenly, Kurama winced and stumbled. He panted heavily, holding his head.  
"Are you alright, Kurama?" Botan asked, concerned.  
"There's another power...I don't think it's hers...and it didn't want me in there..."  
"Can you try again?" Keiko and Yusuke asked simultaneously.  
Kurama nodded meekly. "I can try." The red-head stared at Anei again, concentrating hard. He bit a little part of his lip and furrowed his brow.  
It seemed like he was traveling through a house of electricity. Everywhere, bolts of energy were jumping out and hitting him mentally. Concentrating hard, he reached a door, and opened it...


	6. Chapter 6::Trying Your Faith

_Anei! Anei, can you hear me? It's me, Kurama. What's wrong?  
_A voice, not Anei's own, answered. "Stay out of this, fox demon. This is none of your concern." The voice was deep, and it echoed throughout Anei's head. It was the same one that was tying with Anei's own as she spoke earlier.  
_I will NOT leave._ Kurama argued.  
"Leave or perish!" The unknown power started to grow, as well as Kurama's presence.  
The pain in the shadow demon's body grew immensely, causing her to scream in agony.  
All of the power that was in her fragile body overwhelmed her, and she fell unconscious, glad to be out of the torture she had just suffered.  
Kuwabara poked the slumped-over figure of Anei in the head. There was no reaction from Anei. Kuwabara poked her again. She was still in her shadow demon form.  
"Kuwabara! Stop poking her!" Yusuke growled.  
"Just trying to see if she's alive..." the fool murmured.  
Yusuke ignored him and faced Kurama and Hiei. "Can you feel any aura from her? Anything at all?" His tone was desperate; he had failed to conceal it.  
He heard something from Hiei's direction. Looking up, he saw Hiei, who was ignoring everyone, as he stood leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, his chest was going up and down a little faster than normal. He was panting. Why he was panting, Yusuke didn't know, but didn't give it another thought as Kurama spoke up.  
"I can sense it, but it's very faint," he replied gravely.  
Keiko kneeled down next to Yusuke, staring sadly at Anei. Was she really only an inch from death?  
Yusuke looked at Keiko, giving her a warm smile. He put his arm around her shoulders, and squeezed reassuringly. "You should get home, your parents will worry. I'll call you when she wakes up, okay?"  
The human girl nodded, and, reluctantly, walked out of the house.  
"I'll go to Master Koenma and inform him," Botan told them all. Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped; they had forgotten Botan was even there. Her oar appeared by her side and she disappeared to go to her destination.  
"Should we get her to a hospital or something?" Kuwabara asked.  
"Let's. Kurama, help me get her upstairs to get her out of these clothes. Then we'll go to the hospital."  
"Can I come, too?" Kuwabara asked, a lecherous grin on his face.  
With a steely glare, Yusuke gave him his answer.  
"Uh...Yusuke, I think it'd be best if we just take her to the Spirit World's infirmary."  
"Right."

* * *

A melody of an unknown song echoed throughout the blank abyss that Anei had gratefully fallen into. Anei was still falling, ribbons of darkness wrapped around her and trailing rhythmically behind. A voice interrupted that song.  
_Anei...you belong to me. Leave your so-called 'friends' and re-join your family. We need you...come to __us...  
__My family?_ Anei thought. _Half my family is dead. I only have my father and Yusuke.  
__I am your father.  
__NO! You are nothing but a voice to me!  
__I am Fuzen, King of the Kage! I am your real father. Daifu is your step-father.  
__You lie._ _I'm not going to listen to you!_ Before the voice could say another word, the 'falling' Anei groaned and opened her eyes, blinking at the bright lights that surrounded her.  
"Where am I?" she said slowly, her eyes still half-closed. A face hovered over her. It went in and out of focus, moving around and making her dizzy. Closing her eyes, she raised her hand to block the glare from the lights and groaned again.  
He felt her hand, which he had been holding since Koenma had informed him of what happened and he had arrived, had gotten warmer. More color flushed into her cheeks, making her seem more alive than before. Shidousha felt his pulse slow down. The whole time staring at Anei worriedly, his mind had been swirling with dreadful thoughts that had made him scared.  
"I must go, Koenma, before she sees me. I don't think she's ready yet, no matter how much I long to be by her right now." He bowed his head at Koenma. "I still have to figure out that riddle the Kage left us after kidnapping Daifu."  
Koenma nodded. "When you leave, send Yusuke and the others in."  
"Thank you, Koenma," he said and he parted, leaving the door open for the others.  
Slowly regaining her clear thinking, the person holding her hand let it fall from his grasp, and she watched him leave. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was screaming at him not to go, but he did anyways. Instead, Yusuke and the others filed into the room. Or at least, everyone but Hiei.  
Looking around the room, everything she saw was a white sterile color- which hurt her eyes. The shadow demon sat up, looking at the people surrounding her. Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama, Botan, and Kuwabara were all sitting in hard wooden chairs clustered around her bed.  
"Are you alright?" her cousin asked. She gave him a warm, assuring smile, and nodded, given she couldn't speak very well.  
"What happened?" Kuwabara asked.  
"I..." Anei cleared her throat and continued. "I dunno. I felt this weird power inside me, some guy named Fuzen claimed to be my father, and then when Kurama entered my mind, everything went black."  
"What kind of 'power'? Did it speak to you?" a voice asked. They all turned to the Prince of the Underworld.  
_Great...baby butts here..._she thought, nodding for a reply.  
Koenma looked anything but relieved and said, "It's just as I feared."

* * *

Totei and Teishi fell through the ceiling straight into the living room. A loud crash echoed throughout the empty house as Totei fell on the old glass coffee table.  
"You idiot! Now they'll know we're here!" Teishi yelled sternly.  
"They left, remember? Now, c'mon, we've got to find it. Do you know where her room is?"  
Teishi shook his head.  
"Well, c'mon, let's go look."  
They stomped upstairs and opened random doors until they came to a door with a sign.  
"Get ready. She might've put traps in here." Totei hesitantly grabbed the door handle, as if it would shock him to death. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Nothing happened.  
"Okay, c'mon." Teishi walked in first, followed by Totei.  
"This is...her room?" Totei asked, looking around. A large four-poster bed was in the corner. Various stuffed-animals and pillows adorned where Anei used to lay her head. A thin layer of dust covered the night-stand, and dresser. A closet was set across the room from the bed with a mirror hanging on the door. A large bay window with a soft seat was across from where the two brothers stood.  
"Maybe it's in her dresser?" Totei asked.  
"You look there, I'll look in her night-stand," Teishi replied, walking across to it.  
A few hours later, the two still hadn't found what they were looking for.  
"Totei, a thought just occurred to me. What if she has it, with her?"  
"Then I just wasted two hours of my life for nothing," he answered agitatedly.  
"C'mon, let's go to Fuzen and tell him my theory. Maybe he will forgive us for failing in our attempt to kill her lover."  
"Don't use that word! It makes me sick just to think about those two together!" The two brothers closed their eyes and disappeared.

* * *

He traveled through the castle without making a sound, without anyone seeing it was him, traveled through the shadows, as one with them. This was a power unique only to people with Kage blood running through their veins. It was a way of faster, undetected travel, and great ways to prank people as well.  
He finally reached his destination, the cells, and stood in front of the one with her step father inside. He walked up, grasping the bars in his hands.  
"What do you want, traitor?" the man hissed from inside.  
"I want you to stop calling me that!" the boy replied, grasping the bars tighter. "I am not the traitor of you or Anei! I only followed my father's orders so I can deceive him!"  
"Well, you're putting on a wonderful show, I must say," the man spat from his corner.  
With a cry of frustration, Shuu glared at the man  
"You see? You're just _like_ your father! If you don't get your way, than you both get upset and throw a tantrum!" Daifu exclaimed. "Not only that, but one day, and one day soon, you mark my words, you'll be killing people by the thousands, mercilessly, and without reason. Just like your father did to the Omois!"  
"I had nothing to do with that! I wasn't even born then!" Shuu cried.  
"Did I say it was your fault? No, I didn't." Daifu said. "I was warning you that if you don't get out of this place, you'll end up just like him-cold and heartless. And for fun you'll like to torture innocent beings."  
"No. If _you_ don't get out of here, you'll die! But right now, it seems to me, that you want to stay, because you keep refusing my help!" Shuu exclaimed, stomping off to the shadowy hallway.  
"I'm not leaving here, until _you_ do Shuu. One of Sayaka's wishes was to get you out of here!"  
"I can't. I'm the prince." Shuu materialized once again into a shadow, doing his best to ignore the pain and the sadness in his heart. _I'm sorry, mother. But I have no choice. It is my destiny..._


	7. Chapter 7::Night Time Visitor

Silence rang throughout the room as Koenma's words echoed through their heads.  
"Wha-what do you mean?" Anei asked him.  
"It's happened before-"  
"No, it hasn't," Anei interrupted.  
"How would you know?" Koenma asked matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.  
"I would've remembered. Trust me. I think I would have known this happened before."  
"Oh, really?" the baby shaped prince said. "Well, you don't remember it. Because it _has _happened before. I _would_ know . Your mother brought you and insisted that it would be erased from you memory."  
_My mother...?_ she thought. "When? When did this happen?" the raven-haired beauty demanded.  
"I'll tell you the whole thing, in time, no details left out. On one condition..."  
_I knew he was going to say that..._ the shadow demon thought, rolling her violet eyes. "Okay, okay, what do you want?"  
"You have to live here, in the Spirit World," Koenma said quickly. Silence. "Nobody was expecting that, were they?" he asked rhetorically, grinning widely. Everyone shook their heads in unison. Koenma's smile got even broader.

* * *

There wasn't really anything that Anei needed to move into her new room in the Spirit World-actually, there was nothing. She wasn't going to take all the furtniture from her old house; what if Daifu still wanted to live there after she found him? And she didn't have any clothes-all of the clothing from her old house was way too small for her. She had lived in that house until she was 10-she was now 16.  
On orders that weren't completely unwanted, Botan and Keiko were sent out to go shopping, for clothes for Anei. She insisted to Koenma that she could do it herself, she'd be fine, but he continued to say no and that they would pick out nice clothes.  
"And why can't I go with them at least?" Anei really didn't want to stoop to that level, but she was afraid Botan would get really girly things for her-like skirts and a dress or too. She only wanted jeans and a tee, she would be content with that. Her last hope was Keiko, who knew her better and would hopefully talk Botan out of the many cutesy things she was probably going to get.  
"You'll just draw attention to yourself," Koenma answered hesitantly.  
"You're lying to me Koenma." She went down to his eye level. "What are you hiding from me, you shrimp boat?" she growled.  
"Uh…why would I be hiding something from you, Anei? That's…that's absurd!"  
"Koenma. You really do suck at lying. Now tell me; what are you hiding?" Straightening back up, she crossed her arms and glared down at the toddler.  
"You rang, baby butt?" Yusuke called from behind her.  
Sighing in relief, Koenma said, "Oh! Yusuke! Just the man I needed! Would you please take Anei to show her around? She only knows how to get here from her room, and back, I believe?" Anei nodded begrudgingly, but then smiled like a Cheshire cat.  
"Why don't you come with us Koenma?" she asked innocently. "We could learn the history of the things we see on my tour."  
"Hey, yeah, c'mon Koenma. If you're making me do this, I'm making you come with me."  
Groaning about how much work he had to do, Yusuke pulled him away from his desk as Anei followed, grinning broadly at her victory.  
About a half hour later, they were done and in the castle's kitchen. Koenma was briefing Yusuke on something of the utmost importance and they left Anei alone at a table and staring out a large window onto a patch of grass and a forest. She was thinking, clad in her humongous tee that Yusuke had leant her, and some of Keiko's old jeans that didn't fit her anymore (which means that Anei is smaller than Keiko because of malnutrition from prison), and a pair of worn out tennis shoes from Keiko as well.  
She was thinking; thinking about all the people she missed but hadn't seen yet. It really was great to see Yusuke and Keiko, and even Kuwabara again, but she missed the ones she had cared about most-Daifu, Shidousha, and even her mother.  
She couldn't change the fact that her mother died at the hands of those two monsters-the ones with the black and silver hair. They were from Demon World, she was sure of it, and the way her mother acted about it-covering it up with lies and 'another time, dear's-only emphasized the fact.  
She wanted to leave to go see Daifu and Shidousha as soon as possible-they were in the Ookami territory in Demon World-but she knew Koenma wouldn't allow it. Maybe the day after tomorrow, she would ask...  
All of a sudden, something crashed through the large window Anei was looking absentmindedly out of. Glass shards started flying towards her, so in a quick attempt to save herself, she threw her arms over her face and hoped she wouldn't get cut up too badly. But as seconds inched by, she waited for the glass to slice her body. But, nothing happened; instead, when Anei looked at the reason, she found dark energy shielding her from the broken glass that was hitting it and falling to the floor.  
Looking for the thing that flew through the window, she saw it was a boy, groaning and rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. He was handsome, not that she really cared about his looks, but his jet black hair and charcoal grey eyes made a wonderful contrast to his slightly pale face.  
"Are you okay?" she asked, getting down to her knees to help the boy and noting that her shield was gone.  
He looked up at her, and then as if he recognized her, he looked startled. Backing away, he replied, "Ane-ah...yeah, yeah I'm fine. Perfectly fine. A-okay, don't need to worry about me...er…"  
She chuckled a little and helped him to his feet. "Why did you just come crashing through that window?"  
"Oh, well you see...uh..."  
"We were training and I threw him through it. Your apologies miss." Turning around, she saw a woman in her mid-50's, with wispy gray and auburn hair tied back into a bun. Her face was in a frown, one that seemed to be permanent, and her eyes looked tired, as if she had gone through much in her prime. The boy bowed at the woman and Anei.  
"I'm sorry miss. Did you get hurt?" he asked with more concern than one usually did when you first meet someone.  
She was just about to reply no when she heard Koenma's voice.  
"Amazing Anei!" he cried, coming up to her. "I didn't think you knew that move yet!"  
"I don't..." she replied, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.  
"Well...a word of advice with it...if you concentrate hard enough, you can make a shield anywhere you want to." Anei nodded and turned back to the boy.  
"But anyways, I'm fine." She felt very at ease with this boy for some reason. "I'm a tough girl, I'll deal with a little cut if I have one." She lightly punched him on the shoulder and he chuckled.  
"Hey! You're going to fix this window boy!" Koenma yelled at him, noticing all the broken glass on the floor.  
"Come," the woman called and the boy jumped over the sill and onto the ground. Looking back at Anei, he winked.  
"Hey, wait!"she called after him, he turned just before following the woman. "What's your name?"  
Hesitant, he replied, "You'll find out soon enough." With that, he ran off after the woman.  
Walking towards the window with glass crunching under his feet, Koenma yelled "And you're going to clean this mess up too!"  
Walking back to his office, with Anei following, Koenma grumbled about how no one using his facility cared about its maintenance.  
"Hey Koenma...who was that anyways? He's in your castle...you should know his name."  
"Uhm...I really don't know, actually..." he replied, wringing his hands. Reaching his office, Anei noticed Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Yusuke there waiting for him.  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
"Anei," Koenma started, seating himself back into his chair. "I've decided you're going to school with Yusuke and Kuwabara."  
"What? Since when do you care about my education??" she hissed, crossing her arms.Koenma shot her an angry look. "Because _I'm_ not going to send _you_ back to your death in the Demon World. _You _are going to have to stay _here_ when all the threats are _gone,_"  
Anei rolled her eyes as Koenma continued talking. _There's no way that shrimp boat over there can tell me what to do. I'm going to find Shidousha, tell him I'm fine, and then go see what this whole Kage stuff is about.  
_A violet gaze fell upon Kurama's lowered head. He tried not to look anywhere but his shoes, so as to not gain unwanted attention.  
_Stay out of my head._ Anei said to him.  
"Anei, are you listening to what I'm saying?" a voice interrupted his and Anei's communication link.  
Anei glared at the baby-sized ruler of the Spirit World. "No, Koenma. I'm not." She really didn't give a rat's ass as to what he said, unless it was about her past, or her mother.  
"So if you ever go to Demon World, you will be supervised. No, correction. Everywhere you go, you will be supervised." Koenma continued, ignoring her answer.  
"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!!" Anei shouted, stamping her foot.  
"Anei, if Koenma says you need protection, you're getting it. There's no way to argue," Yusuke told her calmly. She always had a fiery temper. Kind of like himself.  
The shadow demon crossed her arms angrily and looked down at her shoe clad feet. "Fine. If you want me protected, fine. But I'll do what I want, no matter who follows me."  
"Very well. All of you can go home, now. You all need to get some sleep for school tomorrow." Koenma waved everyone away, as Botan opened a portal and bid everyone adieu.  
Anei looked back at everyone and said, "See you tomorrow."  
Anei walked back up to her room and sighed. Twisting the crystal door knob to her new room, light flooded her dark room. The light was shut out once again as Anei closed the door, and, her hand still on the inside knob, she leaned back against the door, sighing loudly.  
Crossing her room, she climbed into bed, once again sighing. Hugging her smallest pillow tightly, she closed her eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The half wolf demon's eyes snapped open abruptly. Someone was in the room. Ignoring the nervous feeling in her stomach, she rose silently in her bed.  
"Who's there? She called to the thick silence. Someone stumbled over her desk chair, and they fell to the floor. "Answer me!" Silence once again, nothing answered.  
A sliver of moonlight shimmered from behind her curtain and she caught the flash of a blade. A cold hand slapped over her mouth, and the blade threatened to slice her throat.  
"Listen here, Anei. They'll be coming for you soon," the person whispered in her ear, sending shivers up and down her back. Totei and Teishi are coming for you. They're bringing you to Fuzen." The hand then placed itself on her shoulder, permitting her to speak.  
"Who are you? And who is Totei and Teishi? Anei demanded.  
"Who I am is not the point. Just heed my warning." She felt the man disappear.  
Sitting there and staring straight ahead, Anei went over what just happened in her head.  
"Who…who was that guy?" 


	8. Chapter 8::Destined Devotees Meet Again

A young wolf demon walked down the hallway, towards the kitchen. He always got up early; he loved the early morning dew.  
He abruptly stopped in the doorway as he saw someone-in his seat, with his mug! She seemed to be entranced with the swirling liquid in her-his-cup as she sat there. Shidousha recognized this pose-it was exactly like Anei when she was in deep concentration. In fact, now that he thought about it...  
_That's Anei!  
_Remembering his close encounter with her yesterday, he knew another encounter would make her more suspicious. Knowing that she would've been angry if she knew he was looking for her, he changed. He covered his sandy brown hair with jet black and made his eyes charcoal grey. He changed the shape of his face, from heart shape to a more squared look. He made his eyes a little smaller, and his nose even pointier. Since the moon was waning, none of the demons of the Ookami clan were in their wolf forms. Meaning Shidousha didn't have to hide his ears and tail.  
Taking a deep breath, he walked to the table Anei was sitting at, and sat down across from her.  
_This will be interesting…

* * *

_The next morning, Anei sat at the counter, sipping her morning tea. Someone she didn't know sat down across from her, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. Anei was so consumed in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice him.  
It wasn't until she felt someone staring at her she looked up.  
"Can I help you?" she questioned, holding her warm mug with both hands.  
"Sorry, I couldn't help noticing..."he started.  
"Oh...it's you," she said, smiling, acknowledging him and putting her mug down.  
"You're really beautiful for a human." He returned a friendly smile, as if they'd known each other forever.  
"I'm not human," Anei said coldly, closing her eyes agitatedly. _Too bad...he is pretty good looking..._She stopped concealing her aura and let it hit him full force. He didn't move an inch.  
"Ah, shadow demon, and wolf. Impressive strength. You certainly don't lead on too much."  
"Yeah, well, when you've grown up like I have, you wouldn't either."  
She felt him release his aura, and she abruptly opened her eyes. Why did his seem so familiar? Taking another sip of her tea, she searched her mind, trying to figure out who this was.  
And then, it dawned on her. This guy was part of the Ookami clan. He was middle ranked, one of the Delims. Why on earth was he here?  
"So, Ookami clan, Delim, right?" Anei questioned. She watched as he smirked at her. "For one so powerful, I expect you would've been second to Shidousha."  
"Ah, so you know Shidousha? Then you must know he is trying to locate Anei Tanizawa?"  
She almost spat her tea out. Shidousha knew Anei would come and find _him,_ so why was he trying to find _her_?  
"You seem surprised."  
"Oh, well…I am surprised Shidousha would do that."  
"People do crazy things when they're in love." Anei looked up at the man and his eyes were starting to glint a greenish color. A very familiar greenish color…  
Abruptly Anei stood up, pushing her stool back and slamming her empty mug down. "Dammit Shidousha!!!" she cried. "Quit shape-shifting on me!!"  
Growing his sandy color hair back, a field green color filling over his grey eyes, he stood as well. His face changed back to normal, back to the handsome heart shaped face Anei knew and loved.  
"Anei, you have to come back with me!" he pleaded.  
"You fool, you know she can't," a voice told them from the doorway.  
Shidousha turned around and Anei looked over his shoulder at Hiei with looks that said 'stay out of this or else'.  
"It'll be suicide if she goes. And now, she needs to go to school," Hiei continued, ignoring both of their threatening looks. She still was a challenge that he needed to get over and out of the way. He could probably do that by doing what Koenma asked him to do. However much he didn't want to.  
Anei sighed loudly and headed for the door, grabbing her bag along the way. She felt both of the boy's gazes on her as she exited.

* * *

Yusuke and Keiko met Anei and the nowhere-to-be-seen Hiei a block away from school. Anei, knowing where he was because of his aura, knew Hiei had run away the instant Kuwabara was in two feet of her.  
"Hey guys," Anei said to them, as she fell in step. "Where's Kuwabara?"  
"I don't know...usually he gets here right after I do, but obviously, he didn't..." Yusuke murmured, looking around. "I don't even know why I still have to go to school. I'm almost 18, I can drop out and just do my own thing..."  
Keiko whapped him upside the head and he groaned, holding it and glaring at her while Anei laughed. "What did you do that for, Keiko?!"  
"You were being an idiot, Yusuke!" She cried shrilly. "You need to go to school to earn education for a job so you _can_ do your own thing!"  
"Ugh! Since when did you become my mother?" he complained, walking towards school.  
"Since I found out your mother wasn't really acting like one!" Keiko quipped. Anei laughed at the two quarreling.  
"Heh, heh. They're just like an old married couple..." she mused.  
"What did you say?!" they both cried at her simultaneously.  
Her eyes widening, she held up her hands in a peace-making manner. "Nothing, nothing..."  
"Hey," they suddenly heard and saw Kuwabara walking towards them looking stern and uninterested.  
"Hello, Kuwabara," Keiko greeted, while Anei nodded and Yusuke smacked him on the head.  
"What are you late for?!" he shouted as they continued down the street.  
"Nothing...I just had to do something, that's all..." he replied nonchalantly and fell instep with the other three.  
"What's up with you, Kuwabara? You're quiet for once..." Anei asked.  
The ex-convict watched as the carrot top shrugged, muttering something.  
"What was that?" she pressed on. She knew something was wrong.  
"I said, nothing…" he replied a little louder.  
"Okay…whatever you say..." Anei watched him out of the corner of her eye. His expression was hard, like he was keeping something, or thinking about something important. She was going to find out, eventually. She would make sure of it.  
"So...I heard you found someone to love in your Ookami clan, Anei..." Yusuke started. "Tell us about it." He grinned lecherously as Anei blushed furiously.  
"Nothing happened!" Anei lied, but Yusuke saw through the bluff. "Okay, so we kissed once or twice. Not like you and Keiko haven't kissed before!" She was surprised that Kuwabara, knowing his perverted mind, wasn't trying to dig up all the dirt on said kisses.  
Giving a swift glance towards him, she did a double-take. Her orange-haired friend wasn't with them. Stopping, the half shadow demon looked around for him. Anei tugged at Keiko's sleeve, and pointed at something. Following her finger, Keiko saw exactly why she was pointing. Kuwabara was standing as still as humanly possible, and staring blankly ahead of him. Walking over to him, Anei waved her hand in front of his face. He swiftly grabbed her wrist and glared down at her.  
"Kuwabara! What're you doing?" Anei cried, looking straight into his eyes. She gasped as he turned her around and put her in a tight headlock, choking her.  
"Kuwabara, stop!!" Keiko yelled, running towards them. Taking his free arm he waved it at the brunette, and she froze in ice.  
"KEIKO!!!" Anei screamed.  
Turning from the corner, Yusuke rushed at Kuwabara, holding out his fingers to shoot his Spirit Gun. Again, with his free arm, the man froze Yusuke, only this time he froze his wrists and ankles to the fence near them. Using both her arms, to try and pry off the crazed Kuwabara, Anei's ability to breathe was slowly starting to diminish. Stretching her neck so she could continue to breathe properly, Kuwabara wrapped his other arm around her stomach and he squeezed tightly. Summoning all of her strength, she threw him off, and ran towards Keiko. She heard Kuwabara rise and start to slowly walk towards her. Anei turned her head, glaring at him. She knew this wasn't Kuwabara – he can't freeze people like that.  
"Who are you?!? What did you do to Kuwabara?!?" she demanded, turning all the way around and facing him.  
He laughed, not in Kuwabara's voice, and smirked at her.  
"You honestly think it would be that easy? Just to demand what you want to know and I'd tell you?" the Kuwabara imposter questioned. She nodded and watched as his eyes traveled over her body. He laughed again, and disappeared. Looking around for any sign of the actor, a sudden pair of arms wrapped around her waist.  
"You're a coward, using someone else's body to carry out your own selfish plans. What do you want?"  
"You speak big words for someone who is asking who I am and doesn't even know what's going on," he hissed in her ear, then licking it. She shuddered violently. How dare he touch her like this?  
"Yeah, well, you're sick!" Yusuke cried, yanking at his arms to try and free them.  
"Ah, so you are Yusuke Urameshi, Koenma's new Spirit Detective," the voice behind her said. It suddenly occurred to Anei that this man no longer assumed Kuwabara's form – otherwise Yusuke would have fell for his trick. "It's easy to tell from the rudeness you emit."  
"Listen, blondie, I want you to let Anei go, unfreeze Keiko, and we'll just be on our way-"  
"Does everyone with Urameshi blood think they'll get the easy way out?"  
Before Yusuke had a chance, Anei spoke up. "Yeah, we do, actually." Once again, Anei threw the actor off her. She slammed the stranger to the ground and bent his arms back to ensure he couldn't get up. After that she sat on him, cross-legged, and he grunted. Groaning with effort, Yusuke finally freed himself and rubbed his wrists as he walked over to the imposter.  
Yusuke bent down to the imposter's face and gave him a cheesy smile. "Either we get the easy way, or you get the hard way."  
Anei rolled her eyes, despite the smile on her face.  
"Now, your name or do you _want_ to eat even more dirt?" Yusuke questioned.  
"My name is Tsuba. I am a messenger from the Ookami Clan," the imposter declared. Yusuke and Anei looked at each other at the same time.  
Taking a deep breath, Anei confirmed his statement. He was a part of the Ookami, but he was only half, like herself. His clothes smelled of the wilderness and fur.  
"So, what do you want with me?' Anei inquired, acting like she always sat on people.  
"What else? To give you a message, of course." A paused of strange silence passed between the three.  
"So? The message? What is it?" Anei pressed.  
"I will not tell you in this degrading posture!"  
Anei growled low in her throat as she stood; she hated having to let someone touch her like that without paying for it. Brushing himself off, he finally gazed at Anei. They made eye contact. Something wasn't right - his eyes were not fit from a Ookami clan member...if only half. His eyes were black, and definitely did not have the Ookami's warmth.  
"Yusuke..." Anei whispered, tilting her head saying 'come here'. His eyes were on Tsuba the whole time he walked over to her. "Something isn't right about this guy..." she told him out of the corner of her mouth.  
The imposter smirked. "Daifu has been taken by the Kage," he said simply.


	9. Chapter 9::A Different Kind of Prison

Anei's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" she gasped. "When did this happen? What're the Kage? Why'd they take him? Where are they? How-"  
"Whoa, whoa, there, slow down a minute!" Yusuke said, holding his hands to say stop.  
"Three weeks ago-" Tsuba started, but Anei interrupted him by going over to him, grabbing the front of his shirt, and getting in his face.  
"Why did you not tell me sooner than I got out of prison?!?" she demanded, glaring daggers at him.  
"I was watching you, making sure you were really Anei Tanizawa." Sneering, Anei called his bluff.  
"More like spy on me because you're a sick pig! Of course I'm Anei! Who else would be in a jail cell for nothing?!" Anei shouted.  
Tsuba glared down at her, grabbed her wrists and swung her into the fence. She made a distressed noise as all the air exited her body. He dropped her and she fell into a slumped over heap. Groaning, Anei sat up and took a few breaths.  
"What was that for, jerk?" Yusuke cried, running over to Tsuba. Tsuba only glared at him with even narrower eyes. Pulling his right arm back, he swiftly punched Yusuke in the gut. The Spirit Detective skidded to a halt by Keiko's frozen feet.  
Walking slowly to Yusuke's fallen form, Tsuba didn't notice Anei stand and creep up right behind him.  
"Hey," she whispered, getting his attention. Turning his head slightly, Anei's round-house kick met his face. Tsuba flew sideways until gravity pulled him to the ground and friction made him stop. Anei and Yusuke gave each other victorious glances and they laughed.  
Out of nowhere, Tsuba was running towards them. Both of them jumped backwards and when Yusuke did, he did right into the frozen Keiko. In slow motion, Anei dashed for her friend as Keiko fell slowly to the ground.  
_No_ Anei thought desperately. She reached with her hands and screwed her eyes shut. Nothing was heard. Everything was quiet.  
She opened one of her purple orbs and was about to go to her broken statued friend, and noticed nothing, but her and Yusuke, was moving. Yusuke was looking around, wondering what was happening, Tsuba was about to be on top of her, but frozen as if somebody was watching their fight on the TV and pressed pause. Keiko was still frozen, and falling to her death. Jumping out of her position, Anei ran to Keiko, ready to catcher her when she fell.  
"Just thought you two would like a hand," Koenma's voice said. They looked up and saw a hologram of Koenma's head disappear from the sky.  
Sure enough, a few seconds later - to Anei anyways - Keiko fell right into Anei's arms. Tsuba jumped onto nothing but air. Tsuba's magic had worn off just in time. Keiko's rump fell onto the side of the street, and Anei and Yusuke helped her up. The brunettes' short hair swished around her head as she looked around.  
"Anei? Yusuke? What...what happened?" she asked groggily, as if she fell asleep in the ice.  
"We'll explain later - right now, we need to take of this guy." Yusuke dodged an incoming punch, and swiftly kicked Tsuba's legs out from under him. Taking a moment to recover, Anei took the chance and gave Tsuba a kick in the gonads.  
Instinctively, Tsuba curled up and held his groin preciously, protecting it from any more attacks. Leaning down to his face, Anei smirked at Tsuba. Yusuke loomed above her, crossing his arms and protecting Keiko, whom was peeking over his shoulder.  
"Why don't you tell me who you _really_ are and what you're _really_ here for?" she inquired.  
Whimpering in pain, Tsuba refused to answer. Narrowing her eyes, Anei roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt and raised his face to her own.  
"Do you want me to kill you now?" she threatened, lowering her voice to seem more...what's the word? Malicious, yes malicious is a good one.  
Her tone of voice seemed to work, and he took a deep breath to start talking. "FuzenwantedmetotellyousoyouwouldgoandrescueDaifuandmakeabargainwithyou!" he replied, using only one breath. Sweat trickled down the side of his temple, and his upper lip was beaded.  
Standing, Anei gave him a scowl, and picked up her bag. "C'mon," Anei called to Yusuke and Keiko. "This wimp is not worth our time."  
They followed, knowing she was angry, yet at what they didn't know.

* * *

All the way to school, Anei thought about what happened - last night and just a few minutes ago.  
_Are they somehow...connected? Was that Tsuba really the Totei or Teishi people? What did this person claiming to be my father - Fuzen - want with Daifu? And what possible bargain could I make with him?  
_The three finally entered the school, and were still on time - but barely. Yusuke was in her first class, and Anei wondered how her first day would be. Anei was known to get a little mad at teachers - but this was high school, not junior high. High school was much, _much_ different. This Anei, unfortunately, found out the hard way.  
Anei sat at a window seat and stared into the tree that took the full view of it. Glancing over to her, Yusuke took a breath to say something, but he noticed she was in very deep thought. When she was fully concentrating on something, nothing could seize her from her reverie, until she became uncomfortable. And that was about to happen. Yusuke counted down in his head. _Three...two...one -  
_A loud snap echoed off the walls as their teacher, Okinawa-sensei, slapped Anei's hand with a ruler. Instinctively moving her hand, she held it with her other. Anei glared at Okinawa-sensei, after crying 'ouch' very loudly. The classroom fell silent.  
"Anei-san!" Okinawa-sensei shrieked. "Will you _please_ answer my question?!"  
"No, I will not."  
A few people gasped, others let out low screams. No one insulted Okinawa-sensei without paying for it. Yusuke informed Anei of this, but apparently, she wasn't too keen on taking his advice.  
Being in a foul mood since the messenger man, Anei did not care who faced her wrath. Teacher or no teacher, this woman was going down.  
Okinawa-sensei narrowed her eyes and slapped Anei hard in the face. Showing no pain - since it didn't really hurt - the half-shadow demon glared hard right back into Okinawa-sensi's eyes.  
"You wanna try that again and see what happens?" Anei threatened darkly.  
Somewhere in Anei's head, a bell was ringing - she was pushing it.  
"Oh, Tanizawa-san, you better take that back right now," Okinawa-sensei warned, shaking her head.  
"Or what?" Anei declared. From behind Okinawa-sensei's large buttocks, Yusuke was shaking his head frantically and drawing his finger across his neck. Ignoring him, she pressed on. "Are ya gonna give me some extra homework? Ooh, I'm scared."  
Okinawa-sensei to red and purple in the face as she clenched her teeth together tightly. "OUT," she declared.  
"Glad we see eye to eye," Anei said, packing up her things. A loud sigh escaped from Yusuke's lips as Okinawa stomped away. Abruptly, though, the teacher stopped turned, and faced her. She took a breath to speak and opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Shaking her head, she went back to her desk. Okinawa watched her with her small beady eyes as Anei left the classroom.  
"Actually..." Anei murmured before she left. "I have something else to say." Stopping before she actually exited, the ex-prison turned on her heel, ran towards the plump woman and slammed her fist into her cheek. Okinawa-sensei tipped her chair, and fell to the ground. She groaned in her place on the tile floor, and slowly rose so the class could see her head from above the desk. Her face was as red as a tomato, save the blue and black splotch on her left cheek.  
Her finger waved dangerously at Anei and the half-wolf demon was tempted to grab it and break it. Resisting the urge, she smirked at Okinawa-sensei as she started trembling with rage.  
"GET…OUT!" the teacher roared. Anei twirled around and walked silently out, a smug look on her face.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. Okinawa slapped you and you punched her back?" the principal asked.  
Anei nodded, her eyes till focused on her clenched hands, which were resting in her lap.  
"What provoked you to attack her, Tanizawa-san?" the principal continued, massaging his wrinkled brow.  
"She deserved it. She slapped me for no reason and she had it coming," Anei answered as her eyes traveled to her right, examining the many degrees and trophies on his wall.  
The principal sighed wearily and shuffled papers on his desk. This reminded her heavily of Koenma when he was stressed out. Because of this revelation, Anei giggled quietly. He looked at her curiously, and made his decision.  
"Tanizawa-san, I will remove you from Okinawa-sensei's class. However, you are to continue to go to school. I see potential in you, Anei-san. But, I have do have to suspend you." Anei nodded. "You'll be suspended for the rest of this week and the next." The principal stood and casually walked over to her.  
They both stared at each for a long time. Anei had no idea what he was thinking, but she was getting very annoyed. She furrowed her brow, to show she was getting ticked at him, but he continued staring.  
_Why. Does. He. Keep. Staring?!? _she thought. Not a second passed by as Anei realized something. The principal had an actual aura, like he was in touch with his sixth sense. She raised one eyebrow at him and he kept staring - just standing there and _staring.  
_Suddenly, he tilted towards her, and then fell right into a heap in her lap. A knife made of pure spirit energy was stabbed into his back, and the wound was bleeding profusely. Her eyes widened as she finally got a grip on herself and realized that he was dead. She threw him off and she scooted the chair backwards as she stood. Anei clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. That way the killer possibly wouldn't find her.  
The teen pressed against the wall and lowered her hand, but she bit her lip instead. She stared at her now-dead principal and she noticed she was covered in cold sweat. An abrupt sucking sort of sound came from behind her, which was impossible, seeing as she was against the wall. It felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach, and she froze. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a disgustingly green arm-the same green as the paint of the room-stretch out beside her. Laughter teased her ear, and she knew she was in deep shit.  
Thick strands of spirit energy wrapped themselves around Anei; one on her stomach, arms, legs, neck, chest, and around her mouth. Even if she was temporarily paralyzed at the moment, the spirit energy did _not_ taste very good. She felt a head rest on her shoulder, and a pair of arms wrapped themselves further around her torso, preventing her to move even if she could. She felt dizzy as if he drugged her.  
Then, it hit her. He didn't drug her, but poisoned her; otherwise, the person would be chopped suet by now. Her eyes started drooping as unconsciousness creeped up on her.  
"That'sss right..." the voice in her ear hissed. "Go to ssssleep..."  
The next thing Anei knew was that a loud crash was heard from in front of her, the spirit bonds were cut, and she fell to the floor. The last sensation she felt was air brushing over her skin as someone's strong arms picked her up.

* * *

Slowly, Anei opened her eyes and saw nothing but a moonlit ceiling. Sitting up on her elbows, she looked around. Hiei was sitting at the window sill of her room in the Spirit World. She knew the youkai did not trust her-not after what she did on her first day of freedom.  
Realizing that she really had no reason to get angry in the first place, she attempted a light conversation.  
"What time is it?" she asked quietly. His outline seemed to shift slightly, yet he continued to stare out the window.  
"Does it look like I have a watch, onna?" he answered back coldly. This hurt Anei's feelings, but she didn't show it, whether or not he could see her face in the dimly lit room. She was trying her best to allow him to trust her and he shoved right back in her face, two-fold. Then again, she didn't give a very good reason for him to trust her.  
"Mmmmkay..." she drummed her fingers on the bed. "How long have I been out?"  
He didn't say anything. Anei was about to ask another question until he finally said "Two days."Hiei seemed to think she was going to ask another question so he spoke. "They poisoned you. But instead, it poisoned you. It's all out of your system now."  
"Right...well...goodnight." Turning to her other side, she curled up in her sheets and tried to drift back off to sleep. She felt Hiei's eyes on her for a second and a thought struck Anei. Why was he in there if he hated her guts?"Onna, we have shifts, you just happened to wake up on mine."  
Anei smiled and fell back asleep. 


	10. Chapter 10::I Hate Mornings

Once again, Anei opened her eyes, but immediately closed them as she saw what time it was. Taking a pillow and pressing it over her head, she groaned.  
"Why is my alarm set for SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING?!?" she shouted. She heard laughing outside her door. Recognizing the laughter, she scowled into her pillow. "YUSUKE, KUWABARA, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" Yusuke said he found Kuwabara in his house with a large lump on his head yesterday after school got out and he was filled in about what happened.  
Even louder laughter echoed through the halls as the two idiots clambered away so they wouldn't have to face her early morning wrath. Anei scrambled out of bed so the two wouldn't get away, but then an evil smirk fell upon her lips. Koenma said she could if she concentrated hard enough...  
She pictured where Yusuke and Kuwabara were headed and concentrated hard on a barrier of her energy. She knew she looked like an idiot, standing out in the hallway and squeezing her eyes shut. But the sudden crash made it all worthwhile. She headed down the stairs and smirked at her cousin and friend. Both were on the ground, nursing large lumps on their foreheads. Crossing her arms, Anei sat on a couch, folding one leg under and listened to the satisfactory whines.  
"Anei, did you have to make it so thick?"  
"Aww...man, that really hurt!"  
"Dammit, how am I gonna get rid of this bruise?"  
"I look hideous with this giant lump on my head! As if I didn't just have another one!"  
She laughed. "You guys are such babies. And Kuwabara, you're hideous without the lump anyways."  
"Yeah, you were the one who made it, you didn't run into it!" Yusuke complained. Rising, Anei sighed and went into the kitchen. Once again, Shidousha was in there. He looked up as she entered, but she avoided his eyes. It was awkward, knowing that she loved him and after all the time of not seeing him, he could have found someone else to marry. It was upsetting, really. She could feel his green eyes on her the whole time she made her morning tea, and sitting down next to him.  
"So...how's the Ookami?" Anei asked, starting their conversation.  
"Fine. How's...uh...your...uh...how's Yusuke?" Shidousha stammered, not knowing what else to say. Sticking his head in the kitchen, Yusuke looked at the two.  
"Somebody call?" the Spirit Detective asked.  
"No, sorry, Yusuke," Anei replied. He shrugged his shoulders and disappeared. Turning to face her ex-fiancee, she said, "As you can see, he's fine." An awkward moment of time passed as the two sipped their tea quietly.  
"Hey, um, Anei?" Shidousha finally asked.  
Anei raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"  
"You do know where Daifu is, right?"  
The ex-convict blinked twice, frowning a little. "Well, I thought he was with-" Anei's eyes widened as she remembered the words of Tsuba.  
_...go and rescue Daifu...  
_She smacked her forehead and cried shrilly, "How could I forget? I'm such an idiot!" Abruptly, she stood, banging her knee on the table. Shidousha stood to make sure she was all right, but she seemed oblivious to the bruise now forming. Anei grabbed the Ookami leader's jacket sleeve and dragged him out of the kitchen, sprinting down the hallway.

* * *

Slamming Koenma's office doors open, she shoved her way through ogres, dragging Shidousha the whole way. The Prince of the Spirit World glared at her while she made her way through.  
"You know, someone could've easily been behind that door," he growled when they finally made it. She shoved Hiei out of the way. "And that wasn't a very nice thing to do to the person who rescued you." Anei almost lost the reason why she came in here from this news.  
"Yeah, whatever. Send me and Shidousha to the Demon World. _Now,_" Anei demanded, roughly releasing Shidousha.  
A look of bewilderment came across Koenma's face. "What? Why?"  
"Because my _dad_ is being held _hostage_!!_ That's_ why!!" Both Koenma and Shidousha looked surprised. Anei glanced at them both, as if expecting them to do something."Well?!" she asked loudly. "Don't just stand there and stare! Make a portal near these 'Kage'!!"  
Anei's final word echoed through Koenma's large office. "Did...did you just say...K-Kage?" Anei's gaze passed over the faces of the many people and ogres in the room. Every single face was staring at her in shock, and this was making her very self conscious.  
"Out," Koenma said to them all; he too, was staring at her. For a moment, the many beings didn't move, but when Anei started shrinking back in embarrassment, they trudged out slowly. "Hiei, tell the others to come here."  
Anei walked over to one of the wooden chairs and sat down, Shidousha doing the same. She sat rigidly, as if even more invisible eyes continued to stare at her. Footsteps shuffled through the open door of Koenma's office. She was wondering how she was such an idiot. She had forgotten in the event of being poisoned in the principal's office. Actually, when she was sitting there, thinking in Okinawa-sensei's class, she was thinking about disappearing into the shadows and then, as soon as she was far away, she was going to go to Spirit World and demand that Koenma send her to the Kage.  
"Whaddya want, Binky Boy?" Yusuke asked. "I was busy." He shoved his hands in his pockets. He and Kuwabara both had bandages on their foreheads.  
"Yeah, busy trying to kill me," Kuwabara argued.  
"You two, don't even start," Botan told them, waving a finger at them. Yusuke attempted to bite it off.  
"Yusuke - !"  
"Enough!" Koenma said loudly. "Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Shidousha. You all are going to the Kage territory, to rescue Anei's father."  
"Uncle Daifu? Why do these 'Kage' people keep coming up? It's been that way since Anei got out of jail," Yusuke said.  
"Hold on a second!" Anei started before Koenma could even start. "_Why_ can't I go? It's my father!"  
"Yes, exactly. He's _your_ father, meaning the Kage want _you_." Koenma crossed his little arms as Anei glowered at him. She already knew that!  
She stood angrily, punching the wall next to her. Shidousha's mouth hung open as he saw she punched through it. She was still oblivious to the pain and she looked down darkly at her feet. "Koenma," she started I understand why you don't want me to go. But I told you I can take care of myself. Was I _not_ thrown in prison when I was only _thirteen?_"  
"Age does not matter -"  
"But isn't it true that I was beaten when I tried to escape? _Beaten _because I refused three square meals of ogre _crap?_ _Beaten _when I started a fight with an inmate because they almost _raped _me Shut up you two -" Yusuke and Shidousha were about to curse out Koenma. "Was I _not_ in jail also because someone was going to do the same thing, and I killed them for it?"  
Koenma stared calmly at her after her rant in which she finally revealed how she got the scars. "Fine. You may go. But this is the only time I will allow you on a mission. And I suspect you need to make some explanations to them all." He waved his hand and a swirling portal appeared. "The explanations will be given once you're back. You need to focus on this mission."

* * *

A gigantic castle loomed over them as they stepped through the portal. Kuwabara whistled quietly. Shidousha stood closer to Anei. She seemed to be scared of something.  
"Hurray…_another_ castle…" Yusuke muttered as they started onward.  
"Anei, what's wrong?" Shidousha asked. They followed behind the other four and she looked away.  
"I don't wanna talk about it…" she murmured, rolling her large sleeves up. She was still wearing one of Yusuke's overlarge shirts and another pair of Keiko's pants. She was extra sensitive at the moment, watching and waiting for something to happen. She could feel something big was around. Her eyes scanned everywhere.  
"Okay...when you do, I'll be here, got it?"  
She gave him a small smile and nodded. And she knew her attempt at the grin was futile-Shidousha knew her like the back of his hand.  
Hiei sprinted ahead of them all and took care of the guards at the gate. Anei's muscles tensed she could feel the same power as the one that took control of her. That was the huge power. Her gaze flickered over to Hiei when he came back and saw he was tense, too. This power was exactly the same as the one she lost control of three days ago. Hiei had recognized it was well.  
"What is this whole 'Kage' stuff about, anyways?" Kuwabara asked as they headed towards the castle.  
"Koenma told us we shouldn't be thinking about that, and I agree with him. We need to focus on any enemies that might attack us." Kurama stated.  
"Anei, are you alright?" Shidousha interrupted. The half-shadow demon had stopped and froze, staring at the ground in front of them. The other boys stopped, wondering what she was doing. The strange power was suddenly concentrated on one area up ahead of them and she knew it would obliterate everything that would cross it.  
"You four, move back very slowly, and be careful," she said with a fierce tone. She wasn't sure of the exact boundaries of it.  
"Why-?"  
Her eyes shot to Kuwabara. "Just do it."  
They all stepped backwards until they were all behind Anei. "Okay, Yusuke, shoot a Spirit Gun straight in front of us."  
"Anei-,"  
"_Don't_ argue!" she growled, her gaze shifting from him and in front of them again.  
Muttering something about people can't tell him what to do; he aimed his Spirit Gun and fired. As the spirit energy blast shot towards the wall of the castle, it passed the abrupt end line of trees. As it did, a cylinder of black energy shot out from the ground and zapped the Spirit Gun into oblivion. All of their eyes widened and Anei smirked, mainly at her cousin.  
"What were you saying, Yusuke?" she asked.  
He rolled his eyes in reply.  
"How're we gonna get pass that?" Kuwabara asked.  
"Well, since Hiei can go so fast without activating the trap…"  
The fire oni looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I am not going to carry all of you fools across," he told them, crossing his arms and looking away.  
Anei shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself, I'll just go run ahead and hope for the best. It was nice knowing you all. When, you take back my dead body, please have it cremated. That is, if you can even recover my corpse..." But another idea popped into her head. "Actually..." she grinned. "All of you get around me, and close. I think I can do a variation of my shield..." As the others gathered around her, she concentrated really hard and formed a strong shield at their feet. "Let's go."  
They walked slowly so that Anei could concentrate, but she urged them faster so all of her energy wasn't drained.  
After everyone was safely passed the black obliterators, Shidousha walked even closer to Anei, putting his arm around her waist occasionally, because he knew that she was weaker than before. She was going to cover her aura just in case she got weaker and they all refused to let her fight. Especially Shidousha, he was probably going to notice eventually and then pull her aside, tell her to go home or stop or whatever. He was just that way. That was probably one of the very few things that they fought about.  
Halfway to the Kage's doors, the team found another trap. That trap was the classic trap door, and when they fell to the bottom, they were all knocked unconscious, either by the fall or by someone thumping them upside the head.

* * *

Voices echoed through the dark chamber.  
"Are you sure she's alive?" one voice said, concern deep in his tone. "I mean, you had to use two Bikou Bakudan on her just to get her unconscious. Those are very deadly."  
"Yes. Look at the monitor. Her heart beat increases every second." There was a pause. "I think she's awake."  
Anei could feel eyes on her. Slowly, she opened her own, but she still saw nothing but darkness. She tried to move her left wrist, but she couldn't. Her whole body was numb. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. It was a terrifying feeling, knowing something was there and you couldn't move, see, or hear, not even talk. There were two presences in her mind, and she assumed they belonged to the voices. They were probably there to see if she was awake or not.  
"Ah! Look at that! She's smart, isn't she?" the first voice asked-it was a woman's, she finally decided in her muddled mind.  
"Yeah. Extremely...it wasn't that hard to figure out anyways. Listen, I've got to get back to Teishi." In her dazed mind, she knew the name clicked, but she couldn't figure out where she heard it. One of the presences left her mind, but she still heard him talk. "Fuzen wants us to do some more training."  
Once again, Anei tried to talk, but nothing happened yet she apparently spoke anyways.  
"Oh, dearie, you don't need to talk so loud," the female's voice continued.  
_So, I can talk…_she thought, while putting her mental walls up. She wiggled her fingers. They were there, and suddenly fully optional.  
In the next moment, a large, painful something entered her arm. She screamed at the top of her lungs-even if she couldn't hear-cursing everyone involved with the searing pain. Her walls fell down, and the woman's laughter echoed in her head.  
"That'll teach you to block me out." 


	11. Chapter 11::Not Dying Yet

Groaning loudly and rubbing his head, the Spirit Detective sat up and winced-his back was killing him. The room was pitch black, so he waited a few minutes before his eyes got used to the dark. He counted four lumps, and thought everyone was there.  
_No, wait, we have that Shidousha dude, too…_he thought, double checking for any more slumped-over figures. To his terror, one of them was gone. Yusuke got into to his feet and walked over to the other's unconscious forms. Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, Shidousha...Automatically, his heart sank-Anei was gone. As if on cue, screams of curses echoed and vibrated off the walls. They were Anei's shrieks, he was sure of it. Turning around, Yusuke looked for an exit, but to no avail.  
"Anei...?" he heard someone murmur, but ignored it.  
"Anei! ANEI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to be louder. There came no reply, ultimately making Yusuke worry even more. Nobody but the other four heard him. The other's groans filled the room as Anei's screams stopped. He heard someone get up; whirling around, he saw Shidousha standing and looking around as well.  
"Who's screamin'?" Kuwabara asked groggily as the echoes still resonated throughout the chamber.  
"Anei! Where are you?" the Shidousha guy whispered.  
Probably more to himself, but Yusuke was upset. Suddenly angry, Yusuke snapped, "If I knew where she was, would I be shouting for her? Would I wonder why she was screaming?"  
"Yusuke, calm down; she can't be far if we can hear her scream," Kurama reasoned. He stared at the floor for a second, and then his emerald gaze traveled up. A steel barred door covered their entrance to their hole.  
"There's our way out," Hiei muttered, brushing himself off.  
"In case you haven't noticed, that exit is way up there. There's no way we can get up that high!" Yusuke complained. A smug look appeared on Kurama's face. Pulling a rose out of his hair, he formed his infamous rose whip. A second later, it was latched onto one of the rungs and Yusuke was still grumbling.  
A few minutes after climbing-with difficulty-the rose whip and, removing the trap door, the five were out of the hole. As they brushed themselves off they looked around, and were shocked. Anei was across the room, hanging on the wall in chains, with a large gash in her right arm.

* * *

Being the one with the fastest instinct, Shidousha ran towards her, oblivious to any danger-he needed to save her. Five feet away from her, Shidousha slammed against something cold and very hard as he skidded to the floor. He sat up on his elbows, and the others could see he was sporting a bloody nose. He rubbed his left cheek, as a large and painful looking bruise was sure to be soon forming there. He wiped the blood off on his sleeve.  
Angrily, he stood up, and pounded on the invisible wall.  
"Anei? ANEI?!? ANEI, WAKE UP!!" he bellowed, finally abandoning his job to beat on the wall.  
Suddenly, a woman's voice reverberated around the room. "She can't hear you. Or see you, or very well move, for that matter."  
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Shidousha all searched the room with their eyes, all being upset. Kurama and Hiei both scanned quickly for her aura, but she was masking it.  
"Who are you?" Yusuke called to the silence. "Why are you doing this to Anei?!"  
The woman's voice chuckled, and then something appeared right behind Hiei. The 'something' was supposedly to owner of the voice. She wrapped an arm tightly around his waist, somehow preventing Hiei to not move. One of her paled hands caressed his cheek.  
"Oh, you're a cute one," she said in his ear, but loud enough for the others to hear. The boys' assumption for her to be the holder of the voice was true.  
It was one of those sickly sweet tones, her voice. On the outside, that was pretty much true as well. Her long hair was a light blue gray-ish sort of color and its straight locks fell down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were violet-red, and they reflected the scene with interest. She wore a dark purple velvet dress that was a little puffy at the short sleeves, and it creeped up her neck in a 'v' pattern. A black jewel was encrusted in the dip between her collarbones. Out of the corner of his eyes, Hiei could barely see the strange woman with the pale skin.  
"Nothing, to Anei, dears. It's to something _inside_ her." the woman replied finally, resting her chin on Hiei's shoulder. She muttered something, and only Hiei heard it. "Bikou Gishu."  
Suddenly, Kuwabara cried, "What is that?!" He jumped up and pointed towards Anei.  
A hand and arm made out of black energy started to slowly swirl up Anei's neck. The woman was controlling the hand, moving her hand with the energy in synchronization. The hand stopped and stroked her face, the woman chuckling while she did so. It stopped and floated down to the middle of her chest, near the base of her neck, and delved in.  
As soon as the fingertips of the hand had entered her body, Anei started to scream with agony.

* * *

The half shadow demon felt something cool against her skin, traced against her cheek and then hovered down to her chest. Confused, she wondered what could possibly be going on for this kind of sensation. Had she had gotten to train any of her shadow demon powers, she would have known this was the Bikou Gishu, or Shadow Hand.  
_What in the world is this feeling? Someone tracing ice on my skin? Geez…I'd-  
_All her thoughts stopped abruptly when she felt something infiltrate her body, something invade her vessel, she felt it grope around her spirit, like it was trying to find something. It was not a pleasant feeling. It grew even more horrid as a pain reached her head, one which not even her tough will could handle. Her first physical reactions were a blow to her pride. To the others, her eyes shot open, but she still could see nothing. She screamed in agony as the hand continued to sift through her aura, trying to find something she apparently hid very well. It tore and clawed at her very being, ripping open wounds and delving deeper, farther into more than anything she could have imagined.  
The pain was mind blowing. She wanted to die, she wanted everything to end. As long as the pain stopped, she would be fine with anything, even if it meant not seeing anyone ever again. She wanted Botan to come and get her right now, take her away, to officially live in Spirit World as a spirit. Maybe end up ferrying souls too. But, just let the pain end first.

* * *

The cries of agony angered Shidousha; how could this shadow hand thing hurt her enough to scream? Anei was strong, the strongest and her stellar willpower was unmatched by anyone that he knew. She never screamed when she was in pain, she fought on. The very fact that she was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it angered him even further. Yet, she was in pain because of that woman...  
"You bitch! Stop this right now!" he cried, turning towards the woman and Hiei. He could no longer watch Anei suffer.  
She chuckled. "You think calling me names is going to stop me? I need something from her, and _nothing_ is going to get in my way. Not even you, wolf boy." She smirked, and laughed. "Is poor little hero upset because he can't save his princess?" she taunted, speaking in a baby's voice.  
Growling with frustration, Shidousha changed into his wolf form, not caring about the consequences he'd have later. He was suddenly aware of everything around him – increased heartbeat, the sweat on Yusuke's forehead, the bruises Kuwabara started to get from punching the wall, Hiei's ragged breath, and the smell of evil, coming from the woman's direction. Ready to cause more pain than Anei was suffering, he lunged towards her. She smirked and narrowed her eyes, throwing Hiei to the ground. He was unconscious, why, the Ookami leader didn't really know, and for that matter didn't care, he just wanted Anei to stop being in pain, and this woman was going to stop that. She stood, not bothering to move when he started galloping towards her. Her feet were together and her arms hung loosely at her sides.  
He ignored everything else that was happening around him; his only focus was to cause fatal damage to this woman who was hurting Anei. He leaped at the last second and opened his jaws, ready to close them down onto some part of this woman's body. But he felt nothing but air between his teeth as he landed, and skidded to a halt. He heatedly turned around and saw where the evil shadow demon had gone.  
She had wound up to the right of him. Her hair fell back in place as she stood. Another nasty smirk appeared on her lips as Shidousha panted loudly. His growl echoed around the room. The hair on his back rose, as he continued to snarl. He needed to disarm this woman somehow.  
She chuckled softly and soon her laughter was almost covering Anei's shrieks. "You don't even know why she's here, do you?" she questioned.  
"You have Daifu; we're trying to rescue him! Anei's here because it's _her_ father!" Yusuke explained irately. "That's what we do! We rescue people and kill the bad guys!"  
"Yusuke, you don't even know the half of it," the woman told him, putting her hands on her hips. "You see, Master Fuzen wants his power back. Somehow, it got stuck in that whore whose making that entire racket. Naturally, I, Kerai, his most faithful servant, would find it for him."

* * *

The hand continued to touch and burn her energy, her life force, _her_. She felt like she was going to die.  
_No…_she thought. _I'm not going to die. Not now, not after all I've been working for. I can't leave my friends and dad again…no. I'm going to get out of this. I will.  
__Shut up, you little whore, _the woman's voice spoke again in her thoughts.  
Clenching her teeth, Anei focused on a shield inside herself – around her very core. She expanded it to burst out from her body. The hand disappeared into oblivion, along with her shield. She let her head go limp, her chin resting against her chest, ignoring the four symmetrical wounds she received from her shield.  
The half-shadow demon felt eyes on her as she raised her head and glared with her blind eyes at the woman who had caused her to hurt her pride and scream from pain.

* * *

Suddenly, Anei's screams stopped, and everyone who was awake looked at her. The shadow hand had disappeared and her head hung, as if she was unconscious again. Her chest heaved heavily-she was breathing very fast. Slowly though, her head rose and it appeared to the others that she was glaring right at Kerai.  
Four new and unknown wounds had appeared on both her arms and both her legs. Her eyes were pupil-less, it seemed, so she could not see anything. Her expression portrayed deep hatred. A black, purple, and silver aura seemed to swirl around her, and she savored the newfound energy.  
Abruptly, her energy lashed out and struck the invisible wall, which then was visible to all as it shattered into a gazillion pieces. The shards flew out in every direction, glittering like stars and creating quite a scene. The energy bonds that held Anei to the wall were severed, and she had landed on one knee to the floor. No one dared to move, for her anger was enough to fill the room.  
The half-shadow demon rose silently, and made her way across the room towards Kerai, not even bothering to realize that the broken shards of glass were giving her fresh wounds on her feet. Her emotions made her oblivious to that. The other four watched in shock as she walked past them. Her energy danced wildly around her as she backed Kerai into a corner. 


	12. Chapter 12::Familiarity

A million worried thoughts raced through Kerai's mind. What would happen to her if this mere girl killed her? How could she get Fuzen's power back now? Would she still be able to strengthen him? It was clear that Anei could harness the energy given to her if she really wanted to. So what now?  
In a futile effort, Kerai waved some of her energy at Anei. It hit her full in the face, but, otherwise some blood trickling down the corner of her mouth, Anei was unscathed. Kerai sank to the ground, helpless as Anei wiped the blood from her face. The angry girl raised her hand high above her head – it was crackling with energy.  
"Take us to Daifu. _Now_," Anei demanded.  
"Okay, okay!" Kerai whimpered. "Just, please, don't hurt me!"  
Anei's face remained the same as Kerai stood, trembling all the way. Her hand reached out and gripped the frightened woman's shoulder and shoved her in front of herself. "Yusuke, please, have your Spirit Gun ready if she tries anything. Shidousha...I suggest you turn back into a human unless you want to be even more uncomfortable tonight..." She sensed her cousin come nearer and did as he was told, as well as Shidousha. "And Kurama, you might want to get Hiei."  
"Already have him, Anei," the kitsune replied, but she just stared blankly ahead as they exited the chamber. It wasn't until then that they remembered she couldn't hear, or see.  
The senseless girl felt the difference between the cold, hard stone floor they left and the cold dirt under their feet as the exited the chamber. The hallway seemed to never end, and the only light was coming from the energy in Anei's hand. Silence pressed onto their ears, not even their feet made a noise. They were alone with their own thoughts in the dark place.  
Slowly, though, Anei's energy was depleting, but faster than any other time she remembered it had. She masked it - using even more energy than before. She looked at the followers behind her, praying they couldn't tell she was getting tired. She had been wondering why it was leaving her so quickly; was it because of the place they were in? Did Kage Castle drain people of their energy? Anei felt around the others' energy...other than Hiei, nobody else seemed to be getting weaker. That couldn't be it. Something was deliberately targeting her and draining her of her energy. But what could it be?  
A few minutes later, they emerged into another hallway. This one was much roomier and lined with jail cells, complete with skeletons chained to the walls. Kerai stopped at the first cell and pointed shakily inside. Anei stopped as well, but still faced her captive, not knowing that she had finally found Daifu. She was too focused on if anyone had noticed she was weak to realize her father was here.  
The others saw that two torches adorned the wall and they flicked shadows across the small room. A hole was in the far corner and flies were flying around it. A man sat in the farthest corner from them all. From what they could tell - shadows were obscuring his face - he was sleeping. Anei smelt the odor coming from the cell closest to her and almost gagged, but turned to face inside the cell anyways.  
Yusuke took a step forward and wrapped his fingers around the bars separating him and his uncle.  
"Daifu?" he asked quietly. The man seemed to stir. "Daifu, it's me Yusuke. I've got Anei here with me, too." The man didn't answer. "Daifu?"  
A groan came from the man's corner, "You say you...have Anei? It's...a lie...she's in jail..." he rasped. It sounded as if he hadn't been using his voice in quite a long time.  
Anei could feel Kerai's energy slowly start to back away. She glared in her direction and felt a vibration of her movement as she took another step. Anei had brought up a shield right behind where Kerai's next foot would fall, so when she stepped on it, it cut into her foot.  
With a yelp, Kerai fell into her trap. She could feel her glare furiously at her. "Ui teaul[You bitch!" she shrieked absentmindedly. The others stared at her, puzzled as her shield disappeared with the echoes of Kerai's shrieks.  
Anei turned her head to where Kerai's energy was coming from. "Ol? Di teaul? Mor'y ton eth neo jurin pu'ot Fuzen. Mor'y luyer ikelin ot secue on rolte [Me? A bitch? I'm not the one sucking up to Fuzen. I'm merely trying to rescue my father," she spoke, her brain not comprehending that she was speaking in a totally different language. She made a telepathic connection to her cousin. _Yusuke, power up your Spirit Gun and keep her against the wall. I _don't _want her to escape._ He nodded to her, still wondering what they had said, and headed over to Kerai. He roughly pulled her arms behind her back and shoved her against the wall between two cells. He pointed his finger at the back of her neck and held it here, powering up his energy. He smirked.  
"Mor've ol ui rof sith, Anei...[I'll get you for this, Anei." Kerai said, once again with her native tongue, still not realizing her mistake. A second later, Yusuke fell forward, against the wall; Kerai used the shadows for her escape.

* * *

Back at Spirit World, Koenma was watching the progress of the six rescuers. Anei speaking Kagen was surprising news to all; no one but the Kage clan knew the language. It certainly raised some question against Anei's origin, but Koenma decided to keep it aside for now. He could tell Anei when she was ready.  
"George, do you want to bet this sugar-coated rice cake that Kerai will come back with reinforcements?" the prince asked his right hand man-err...ogre.  
"Yes, Lord Koenma, sir. Yes I would. I bet you that rice cake that she doesn't send more help." They each grinned slyly as they shook on it.  
"Koenma, sir, do you want me to look up Sayaka and Daifu Tanizawa's past records?" Botan interrupted, coming in from behind the screen and blocking their view.  
"No. It isn't a matter needed to be discussed."  
"But, sir-,"  
"No buts. I'll tell Anei later. She's bound to tell everyone else, including you, when she's ready. Now...please go. I want to see what happens next."  
Botan, for once, frowned, unnoticed to Koenma, and turned around, disappearing.

* * *

Anei growled. "Dammit..."  
"Anei..." someone groaned. "Don't...swear. It's rude..."  
"D-Dad?" the half-shadow demon questioned, searching the room for his aura.  
Yusuke and the others stepped back, so as to direct her towards where he was. They watched in silence. The man uncovered his face and showed a warm smile. Anei gave no reaction. Her cousin took hold of her elbow and turned her towards her father. She smiled at Yusuke then turned her gaze towards Daifu.  
An amused look took over Daifu's face. "You can't see anything, can you Anei?"  
She shook her head. "Nuh-uh."  
"She can't hear anything ei - wait a minute...Anei _can_ hear now." Yusuke looked at her, dumbfounded.  
Anei nodded and smiled at where he was. "I don't know how. It just suddenly came back after that woman called me a bitch."  
"Is that what she called you then? I couldn't understand a single word coming out of your mouths," Kurama interrupted.  
Anei frowned and furrowed her brow. "What do you mean you couldn't understand us?" She was totally unaware that she had spoken in a completely different language.  
"You weren't speaking in our language, that's for sure," Kuwabara answered. "It was something weird, like it was all made out of vowels or something."  
"What? How was I talking in another language? I didn't even notice!" Anei cried. "That's impossible, not knowing when you're doing it!" She shook her head and crossed her arms. "What language was I speaking?"  
"She was speaking Kagen," another voice told them.  
All eyes turned to opposite side of the hall, where a strange cloaked figure was walking towards them. The feel of this person's spirit energy seemed very familiar, as if she knew it from somewhere. Anei tried to remember, but it was in the darkest and dustiest parts of her memory. She must've met this person when she was younger to feel it familiar now. Or, she had met them recently and his energy left an impression on her. But how could she have met someone recently? She had just been released two days ago.  
"Who're you?" Kuwabara asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind.  
"Someone that you don't need to know the identity of," the stranger said. He was obviously male from his voice; they could see nothing of his face but his small mouth and chin. The rest of his body was concealed by the cloak. He stopped about five feet away from them all. "Anei could hear after the curser spoke Kagen. And I can lift the No Sight charm, so she'll be all set after that."  
"Wait...so that Kerai chick cast some fruity spells on Anei so that she couldn't hear or see?" Yusuke questioned.  
"And one where she couldn't move, but she overcame that with her anger," the newcomer replied. "And they aren't fruity. They're Kagen magic. Anyways, Kerai must not have known the alternative Curse breakers, or else she would've held her Kagen tongue."  
Silence followed. The man in the cape waited expectantly for something.  
"Well, what are you waiting for? Lift the charm off her!" Shidousha demanded, giving the clueless looking Anei a side glance. "She looks really creepy without any pupils..."  
Anei scowled at him and crossed her arms. "Gee thanks, as if I had a choice in the matter."  
She felt the familiar stranger come closer to her and chant something under his breath. Slowly, she started to see odd shapes and blurs. Light came from a torch near her, and the images she saw began to take sharper focus and figures. A few seconds later, and she could finally see this mysteriously recognizable man.  
His hood obscured everything from view but the bottom half of his face. He backed away the precise moment the thought of pulling the hood down drifted across Anei's foggy mind.  
Shidousha watched her closely as her pupils slowly faded back into their rightful spots. Her brain reverted back to normal ways of thinking slowly, so she seemed out of it. A dazed expression was on her face, and her mouth hung open slightly. As soon as she felt she could move quickly without feeling dizzy, she turned towards Daifu.  
He had already gotten up and was holding onto the bars that divided them. The warm smile returned to his face and it brought tears to her eyes. He was okay. 


	13. Chapter 13::Apparent Betrayal

The stranger interrupted their silent moment, or at least, in Anei's head, he did. _You must leave before the scouts come. They will place you in these jail cells you see before you. Hurry and leave now.  
__Wait! Who are you?_ Anei asked before he left the connection.  
_No one special. Now go.  
_At that moment, Anei felt several presences coming their way down the hall that the stranger had come from. She turned towards him and nodded, and he disappeared. She knew the others had sensed them too, because of how they all tensed up and kept sending uneasy glances down the dark corridor.  
"How...how did you get out?" Daifu asked, and then his gaze turned to Yusuke. "And how are you still alive?" He obviously was too happy to sense the oncoming danger.  
"They're both long stories," Anei answered, turning with the rest of them all towards the dark hallway. "But it's going to have to wait. There are guards coming this way."  
"What are we gonna do about Hiei?" Kuwabara asked, noticing the unconscious fire demon still in the arms of Kurama.  
Quickly, Anei removed him from the fox demon's care and  
Anei knew it probably would've been better if she had listened to the man with the hood. But she needed desperately to calm her anger at the capture and suffering of her father.  
"Anei, I don't think you should fight," Daifu announced quietly, so the oncoming guards did not hear.  
"I do dad. They captured you and hurt both of us. They deserve it," she replied, stealing a quick glance in his direction.  
"Fine. After this, you're grounded," he replied. She was fiddling with her shirt, which he knew was a sign she was hiding something from them all.  
Her mouth dropped open and she turned towards her father. "Are you joking?!" she shouted.  
"No, I'm not," he answered.  
Anei sent glares towards Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were silently laughing behind their hands. She frowned and looked away, and then noticed Shidousha trying to conceal himself as much as possible behind Kurama.  
_What're you doing?_ she asked him in his head. He looked quite startled that her voice suddenly echoed around his mind.  
_I don't want Daifu seeing me,_ he answered, sending her a furtive glance.  
Anei rolled her eyes. He had figured that since her parents didn't want her married, they hated him. She had always insisted that they just thought she was too young, but he hadn't swayed.  
"I'm serious, Anei. I don't want you to fight," Daifu persisted.  
"Dad! I can handle it!" she shouted, her anger making her snap.  
He frowned. "Anei Hana Tanizawa; don't take that tone with me."  
Yusuke and Kuwabara's chuckles grew louder.  
Anei's mouth tightened. "Fine." She turned away, towards the oncoming opponents. "I'd rather be grounded and fight than not fight at all."  
Daifu's frown grew deeper. "He's too close. You're going to die," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Back in Spirit World, Koenma heard what Daifu had said, for no sound went unnoticed on _his _television.  
"Die?! Whaddya mean _die_?!!" he exclaimed, jumping up in his seat. He grabbed for his remote, but in his haste, he dropped it. After fumbling with it, the display, instead of showing the people and place, it just showed the spirit energies. Anei's was pretty dim, and getting dimmer because of a section that went off somewhere else in the castle.  
Koenma frowned, and with his remote, followed it to where it ended, like the end of a rainbow or something. Botan, who had returned to see the detectives' progress, and George leaned in closer, staring intently at the screen. There was a continued black abyss and the energy being sapped from Anei shone out brightly against it.  
"What do you think it is Koenma, sir?" George asked the question that was on both his and the Reaper's mind.  
"To be honest...I have no idea. But considering the circumstances, I fear it's..._him_," Koenma answered, his frown deepening.  
By how long it was taking, he figured he must have gone up several floors, and probably across the castle.  
"No! It can't be!" Botan cried. "Why would he want her power?"  
Koenma remained silent. He couldn't say, not now anyways. Botan got it and dropped the subject.  
They had found someone. Two someone's, actually. One someone's aura was getting steadily brighter, and was obviously the culprit of draining Anei's energy. He switched back to the people and place. They gasped and stared at the screen in terror.

* * *

In Kage Castle, silence once again consumed them. The only sound was the occasional mumblings of the distant enemies. Meanwhile, Anei directed everyone telepathically.  
_Kuwabara, Yusuke, get on both sides of the entry. Kurama, and Shidousha, you can hide behind those pillars.  
__What're you gonna do?_ Shidousha thought, hoping Anei still had a connection with him.  
_You'll see.  
_Everyone got in their places, and Anei crept over to the entry, stepped into the shadows and disappeared. Daifu stared into the darkness, wondering where she had gone to. When he didn't see her, he immediately and instinctively became worried. "Anei?" he whispered loudly. "Anei?!"  
Her voice entered his head. _Hush up! Do you want them to get suspicious?  
__Where are you?  
__In the shadows._ She paused, and he thought she had left. _I'm fine, dad,_ she reassured after he thought that using that power would wear her down faster.  
He sighed and slightly relaxed, making it seemed he was still a prisoner, and concealing the unconscious boy Hiei at the same time.  
Minutes seemed to drag by as the strangers with torches came closer and closer with each stealthy step they took. Anei was on the wall high above them, watching them and following them silently as she drifted over the cool wall. She had mastered this technique in jail; it's how she escaped so many times until Koenma figured out what she was doing. It was that damned suck-up Forie who told him. She scowled at the thought of his name, or at least, she felt herself scowl, but nobody would've seen it.  
Finally, the light got brighter, and as the strangers crossed the threshold, Anei jumped down behind them.  
"NOW!" she cried, unveiling herself.  
Yusuke and Kuwabara both jumped out and started attacking; they were clearly Kage soldiers. Kurama and the wolf-form of Shidousha came tearing out from behind their assigned pillars, attacking the front; Kuwabara and Yusuke battled the flanks, Anei held the rear.  
Daifu smiled sadly as he watched Anei fight. She looked just like her mother when she was mad and fighting. Her fighting style, the way she moved, everything down to the expressions on her face. His heart ached. And then, someone caught his eye. It was a boy, and it caused his aching heart to suddenly race in fear of that boy being seen by Anei.

* * *

Koenma trembled and slowly sank back down into his chair. Botan stared with her mouth gaping open, and George? Well, he had fainted sometime in the middle of the staring fest.  
Why would someone so powerful need Anei's aura? But, then again, he had disappeared from Demon World crimes for about sixteen years...  
Koenma started stared at his clammy hands, trying to think of what to do. Should he get them out of there? Wait...were they still there? He switched it back to aura and followed Anei's aura back to them all. There were several other auras with them, and they were all moving around pretty fast. Kaida must've sent some reinforcements.  
_No…Kerai, not Kaida. _His eyes widened. _The Caravan! I can call them and they can help fight Fuzen! Koenma, you're a genius!  
_He stood up on his desk and put himself on loud speaker. "Attention all ogres!" The loud shuffling, arguing voices, and telephones ringing immediately stopped. "Someone try to find and contact The Caravan. Tell Yasuo that Koenma needs him! Bring medical ogres to assist George! And a glass of water for Botan!" He stepped down, and then remembered something. "And someone bring me a strawberry rice cake!"

* * *

Daifu cursed silently; for being so helpless, and for Shuu deliberately fighting Anei. He possibly wanted to get closer to her, to watch out for her, so she wouldn't get killed by his other soldiers, but she wasn't allowed to see him! It totally ruined the promise that he made to Sayaka, of Anei never finding out what happened that day. The day he had found Sayaka and a newborn baby, lying in the snow and the baby crying loudly.  
Anei let her guard down several times, one reason to get a better look at this guy she was fighting-because he looked just like her-and another reason to find out why he was being so hesitant every time she did. The last reason, was she really didn't mean to. She was getting weaker and weaker, just as her father had warned, but she refused to give in so easily. Not to herself, there was no way. These Kage had kidnapped her father, trapped her and her friends, hurt them all-no, there was no way they would get away with it. Not without a fight.  
The boy who looked just like her saw an opening that wouldn't kill her and would make her fall unconscious, because he noticed her struggling to keep up with him, and he needed them to get out of there. He didn't want her to suffer even more if one of her friends were killed.  
He took it, right underneath her ear. He hit it with just two fingers, but she immediately went down like a rock. He heard Daifu cry her name out, but ignored his shouts directed towards him.  
"Shuu! You killed her, you bastard! You traitor, I thought you loved her!" Shuu made a sound of annoyance and muttered, "This is taking too long." He dashed through the other fights and hit them all in the exact same spots, making them fall like rocks. His soldiers stood, amazed at how fast he worked.  
He spit down next to Yusuke's head. "Let's get out of here. Their bodies can rot away here."  
As they walked back down the hallway they had come, he ignored the shouts and pained screams of Daifu. He would have to apologize later. His brow set low, and his mouth a grim line, he decided he would visit Anei's room once more tonight.

* * *

The next time Anei woke up, she was surrounded in an infirmary with the others; Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Daifu, and Shidousha. She smiled and slowly rose from the bed, and walked over to Shidousha's. She grabbed his hand and her smiled widened as he stirred, but didn't wake. He looked so god damned cute when he was sleeping, she couldn't help but kissing him on the lips.  
He woke up when she did that, and made a surprised noise, but then realized what was going on and kissed her back softly. They continued kissing until they heard...  
"Ah, guys, get a room or something!" Yusuke cried, holding an arm in front of his face. They laughed and stopped, turning towards him as Anei flopped down onto Shidousha's bed.  
"I dunno, Yusuke. I kind of enjoyed it..." Kuwabara said as he sat up in his bed. Making an angry face, Anei threw a pillow at Kuwabara and made a disgusted noise. Shidousha followed the pillow and started beating the shit out of the orange-haired pervert while Anei bounded over to her father. She wiped a curl of hair out of his face and, being an extremely light sleeper, he woke. Smiling as he saw who had woke him, he sat up and stretched.  
"Good morning, dad. Are you feeling better now that you're out of prison?" she asked, grinning broadly.  
"Of course. I feel like I just slept for the first time in years." He yawned and Anei laughed, then watched Shidousha and everyone else fight each other with her dad.  
A few minutes later, a streak of green and a shock of reddish hair came in and, there was a crack of a whip, and everyone that was fighting was tied up with aforementioned whip. Surprised and blinking, Anei stared at a girl, who was holding the whip. She had bright blue eyes, medium length, reddish orange hair with a white bandana tied around the top of her head, and a grinning freckled face. She wore a short green leather vest with a white tube top around her chest, a green miniskirt with a leather belt and knife strapped around her, and knee-high leather boots on her feet. White bandages graced her well-toned arms and she flexed them unconsciously.  
"Alright! Master Koenma requests your presence in the kitchen! Quit the horsing around and get your asses down there!" She glared at all of them, as if testing them to do something.  
"Who are you?" Yusuke asked angrily, struggling to get free of his bonds.  
"I'm Emiko, member of the Caravan and fighter extraordinaire!" 


End file.
